A.MJ  xC  AJii  A 

LINCOLN 


JAMES    BALDWIN 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


>  i 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN 


A    TRUE    LIFE 


BY 


JAMES    BALDWIN 

Author  of  "Fifty  Famous  Stories  Refold,"  "Old  Greek  Stories,"  "  The  Discovery 

of  the  Old  Northwest,"  "  The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Northwest" 

"Baldwin's  Readers,"  etc. 


o-i^oo- 


NEW  YORK  •  CINCINNATI  .  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 


UNCOLN. 

w.  P.  15 


q73.7tfo5 

TO 

THE    SCHOOLBOYS 

OF  AMERICA 

This  book  is  dedicated  to  yon.  It  is  the  story  of  a  hero  greater 
than  any  of  the  heroes  of  fairy  tale  or  rojuance.  For  while  these 
latter  were  for  the  most  part  ideal  and  imaginary,  the  man  of 
whom  I  shall  tell  you  was  a  real  persoji  who  lived  a  true  life  ajui 
did  truly  noble  things. 

Concernifig  no  other  American  has  so  7nuch  been  written.  Of 
books  about  Lincoln  there  are  already  scores,  even  hundreds.  Why, 
then,  should  /presume  to  write  another  ?  Why,  when  it  is  plainly 
impossible  to  relate  any  new  facts  regarding  our  hero,  should  I  ven- 
ture to  add  this  volume  to  the  multitude  of  existing  biographies  ? 

My  answer  and  apology  is  this :  While  I  cannot  tell  anything 
that  has  not  already  been  told,  yet  I  may  be  able  to  repeat  some 
ivell-known  facts  in  a  manner  particularly  agreeable  and  under- 
standable to  boys  and  girls,  thus  producing  a  boo^  adapted  to  school 
reading,  free  from  tvearisome  details  as  7vell  as  from  political  bias 
or  sectional  prejudice.  Then,  again,  it  is  my  aim  in  this  book  to 
trace,  as  briefly  as  may  be,  the  progress  of  our  government  frotn  the 
time  of  its  organization  to  the  end  of  tlie  great  civil  war  ;  and  more 
particularly  to  make  plain  the  causes  and  motives  which  brought 
about  the  tremendous  crisis  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln  bore  .so  con- 
spicuous a  part.  For  to  you.  the  schoolboys  of  America,  the  polit- 
ical history  that  centers  around  the  life  of  our  hero  should  have 
more  than  a  passing  interest.  Although  the  chief  issues  then  at 
stake  have  ceased  to  exist,  yet  the  lessons  of  that  history  remain  as 
beacon  lights  to  guide  and  warn  you,  the  future  rulers  and  law- 
makers of  our  country.  Other  issues  may  arise,  other  jealousies 
may  cause  discord,  other  mistaken  theories  tfiay  threaten  the  peace 
of  the  nation,  —  the  salvation  of  this  great  7-epublic  will  depend 
upon  your  unselfish  patriotism.  It  is  with  the  hope  that  this  book 
may  help  to  inspire  you  with  such  patriotism  that  I  dedicate  it 

to  you. 

LAMES  BALDWIN. 

3 


CONTENTS 


Prelude 


BOOK   THE   FIRST  — PREPARATION 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

I. 

A  Humble  Home .25 

II. 

Boy  Life  in  the  Backwoods    . 

31 

III. 

Restless  Thomas  Lincoln  goes  to  Indian 

a 

38 

IV. 

A  Winter  in  a  Half-faced  Camp     . 

41 

V. 

How  the  Hevved-log  House  was  built 

44 

VI. 

A  Great  Sorrow 

47 

VII. 

"  My  Angel  Mother  "     . 

50 

VIII. 

Lonely  Days  at  Pigeon  Creek 

54 

IX. 

Improved  Conditions     .... 

56 

X. 

Not  much  Schooling,  and  yet  a  Little 

61 

XI. 

Conning  Books  by  the  Firelight     . 

.       64 

XII. 

Oratory  at  a  Country  Court    . 

.       67 

XIII. 

Lincoln  the  Boatman 

.       69 

XIV. 

New  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi   . 

•       73 

XV. 

A  Trial  of  New  Fortunes 

•     n 

XVI. 

The  Winter  of  the  Deep  Snow 

.     81 

XVII. 

Running  a  Village  Store 

•    85 

XVIII. 

Up  in  Black  Hawk's  Country 

.   89 

XIX. 

Election  —  but  not  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

•      95 

XX. 

"  Law,  Sir,  Law  ! "           ... 

.       98 

XXI. 

In  the  Postal  Service     . 

.     100 

XXII. 

Following  the  Surveyor's  Chain     . 

.     103 

XXIII. 

Entering  Politics  in  Earnest  . 

5 

.     106 

Contents 


BOOK    THE    SECOND  — PROBATION 

CHAPTER 

I.  A  Member  of  the  Legislature 

II.  Between  Vandalia  and  New  Salem 

III.  Rag  Barons  vs.  Sons  of  Toil 

IV.  An  Attorney  at  Law 
V.  How  Lincoln  rode  the  Circuit 

VI.  A  Stirring  Campaign 

VII.  Master  and  Slave  . 

VIII.  Love  and  Poverty  . 

IX.  In  Relation  to  Texas 

X.  National  Politics  in  1844 

XI.  Contention  with  Mexico 

XII.  One  Term  in  Congress  . 

XIII.  Lincoln  returns  to  Private  Life 

XIV.  New  Phases  of  the  Slavery  Question 
XV.  A  Bill  that  proved  to  be  a  Firebrand 

XVI.  The  War  in  Kansas 

XVII.  Rule  or  Ruin  .... 

XVIII.  Under  Buchanan's  Administration 

XIX.  Estrangement  between  North  and  South 

XX.  Lincoln  and  Douglas 

XXI.  In  Friendly  Debate 

XXII.  Fanatical  John  Brown    . 

XXIII.  Eloquence  at  Cooper  Union  . 


PAGE 

118 
119 

135 

143 

144 
146 

149 
156 

164 

176 
181 
188 
192 
195 
200 
206 


BOOK   THE   THIRD— PERFORMANCE 


"Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Rail  Candidate" 


Balloting  at  Chicago 


L 

II. 

III.  Revolt  at  Charleston 

IV.  A  Gloomy  Prospect 


208 
210 
214 
218 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

PACE 

V. 

Heart  and  Head 223 

VI. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  President 

.     225 

VII. 

Men  of  the  Cabinet        .... 

229 

VIII. 

Lincoln's  First  Call  to  Arms  . 

231 

IX. 

In  Sight  of  the  Capitol  .... 

237 

X. 

Never  too  Busy  to  help  Others 

240 

XI. 

"  Contraband  of  War  "  . 

245 

XII. 

''  One  War  at  a  Time  "  . 

247 

XIII. 

Listening  to  Advice       .... 

249 

XIV. 

Nearing  the  Great  Issue 

254 

XV. 

Antietam  and  Emancipation  . 

256 

XVI. 

The  Tide  Turns 

260 

XVII. 

Renominated         .... 

266 

XVIII. 

Union  or  Disunion  ?       .         .         . 

269 

XIX. 

Elected  Again        .... 

270 

XX. 

"  Let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  Work  " 

272 

XXI. 

In  Richmond          .... 

276 

XXII. 

Friday,  the  Fourteenth  of  April 

279 

XXIII. 

Elegy 

.        281 

Index 

•                 •                 0                 •                 0                 e                 • 

283 

PRELUDE 

THE  Fourth  of  July  in  America  is  a  time  of  national 
reioicing.  It  is  also  a  time  of  national  remembrance. 
On  that  day  we  are  reminded,  in  one  way  or  another,  that 
we  are  Americans,  and  that  we  have  a  country  to  which 
we  should  be  loyal  and  true.  We  are  reminded,  also,  that 
this  is  the  land  of  freedom  and  that  it  was  made  so  by  the 
toils  and  sufferings  of  brave  and  wise  men  who  lived  and 
died  amid  scenes  and  circumstances  to  which  we  are 
strangers.  It  is  fitting  that  we  should  think  of  all  these 
things  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  that  day  is  the  birth- 
day of  our  nation. 

There  was  once  a  time,  however,  when  the  people  living 
in  America  could  not  boast  that  they  had  a  country  of  their 
own ;  for  they  were  ruled  by  the  king  and  parliament  of 
Great  Britain  who  made  laws  for  their  government  without 
asking  their  consent.  The  American  colonists,  as  the 
people  were  then  called,  could  not  say  that  this  was  a  land 
of  freedom  ;  for  they  were  made  to  pay  taxes  to  the  king, 
and  were  denied  many  of  the  rights  which  free  men  hold 
dear.  Then  the  4th  of  July  came  and  went  without  more 
notice  than  any  other  day :  no  flags  were  raised,  no  great 
guns  were  fired,  no  glad  bells  were  rung ;  for  the  nation 
had  not  yet  been  born. 

9 


lo  Prelude 

But  at  length  there  came  a  day  when  the  people  would 
no  longer  be  deprived  of  their  rights.  Then  certain  wise 
and  brave  men  declared:  "The  king  of  England 
is  a  tyrant,  and  he  is  unfit  to  rule  this  land. 
The  people  shall  make  their  own  Jaws  and  choose  their 
own  rulers,  for  this  is  their  right.  These  states,  in  which 
we  live,  are  and  ought  to  be  free  and  independent." 

The  day  on  which  that  declaration  was  made  was  the 
4th  of  July,  1776;  and  since  that  time,  as  the  years  go 
by,  it  is  remembered  with  great  rejoicing  as  the  day  when 
the  American  nation  had  its  beginning.  But  real  inde- 
pendence was  not  won  merely  by  a  declaration.  There 
followed  a  long  war  with  England  —  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution—  which  lasted  till  the  British  king  and  parliament 
were  forced  to  say  that  the  country  might  be  free.  In  this 
way  the  people  won  the  right  to  be  their  own  rulers  and  to 
make  their  own  laws ;  in  this  way  they  gained  for  them- 
selves and  for  us  the  freedom  which  all  men  so  dearly  prize. 


* 
*   * 


It  must  not  be  thought  that  when  our  nation  began  its 
life  it  was  rich  and  great  as  it  now  is.  It  was  small 
and  weak.  Its  possessions  did  not  reach  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  as  they  do  now,  but  only  from  the  Atlantic  coast 
to  the  Mississippi  River.  There  were  but  thirteen  states, 
and  they  were  thinly  settled.  Nearly  all  the  people  Hved 
in  that  part  of  the  country  which  is  east  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  the  different  sections  had  but  little  to  do 
with  one  another.  The  largest  and  richest  of  the  states 
was  Virginia,  which  claimed  the  land  westward  as  far  as  to 
the  Mississippi. 


The  OJiio  Re  Hon  II 


"■iy 


The  broad  region  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi was,  for  the  most  part,  an  unknown  land.  It  was 
covered  for  hundreds  of  miles  by  a  dense,  wild  forest, 
where  savage. beasts  lurked  and  warlike  Indians  roamed. 
There  was  no  way  of  getting  into  it  except  by  pushing 
through  the  tangled  woods,  or  by  floating  in  small  boats 
down  the  Ohio  River,  or  by  coasting  along  the  shores  of 
the  Great  Lakes  which  bordered  it  on  the  north.  The 
only  roads  were  the  water  courses  or  the  winding  paths 
made  through  the  forests  and  prairies  by  wild  deer  and 
wandering  herds  of  bisons.     • 

Here  and  there,  on  the  bank  of  some  river,  hidden  far 
away  in  the  forest,  there  was  a  little  fort  or  a  trading  post, 
scarcely  known  or  even  heard  of  by  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Now  and  then,  a  hunter,  after  months  of  roving  in  these 
wilds,  would  go  back  to  his  friends  in  the  East,  and  tell 
wonderful  stories  of  the  fertility  and  beauty  of  that  West- 
ern country.  Now  and  then,  some  traders  would  return 
from  the  Ohio  region  with  loads  of  skins  and  furs  and 
with  many  a  tale  of  danger  and  escape  in  the  savage 
wilderness. 

No  person  could  have  dreamed  that  within  less  than  a 
century,  this  unknown  region  would  become,  as  it  is  to-day, 
covered  with  countless  farms  and  dotted  with  busy  towns 
—  the  home  of  millions  of  happy  people.  Indeed,  there 
were  thoughtful  men  who  said  that,  for  ages  to  come, 
there  would  be  plenty  of  room  in  the  states  east  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  our  country, 
and  that  the  territory  to  the  west  would  remain  a  wild, 
unsettled  hunting  ground,  perhaps  forever. 


Prelude 


* 
»   * 


But  there  were  a  few  men  who  believed  otherwise. 
They  had  listened  to  the  stories  that  were  told  of  the  ex- 
tent and  the  hidden  wealth  of  the  lands  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 
and  they  believed  that  new  states  would  soon  be  formed 
there.  A  year  or  more  before  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence two  companies  of  settlers,  from  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  established  themselves  ir 
the  beautiful  region  south  of  the  Ohio. 
One,  composed  at  first  of  men  alone,  built 
a  stockade  at  the  place  now  called  Har- 
rodsburg.  The  other,  among  which  were 
women  and  children,  was  led  by  the 
hunter,  Daniel  Boone,  and  the  settle- 
ment which  he  founded  was  named 
Boonesborough. 

The  country  in  which  these  daring 
pioneers    made   their   homes   was    an 
uninhabited  land  and  was  known  by 
its  Indian  name,  Kentucky.     It  was  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  untraveled  wilder- 
ness —  two    hundred    miles    from   the   near- 
est settlement  in  Virginia.     But  it  was  one  of  the  fairest 
regions  in  the  world.     Eastward,  back  to  the  crest  of  the 
mountains,  the  forest  stretched  unbroken ;  but  westward, 
there  were  grassy  openings  between  groves  of  woodland, 
and  treeless  meadows  covered  with  rank  herbage.     Here 
.were  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Indians.     Herds  of  bisons, 
or  buffaloes,  grazed  on  the  wild  meadows  or  roamed  among 
the  trees.     Huge  elks,  with  branching  horns,  browsed  in 


Kentucky  1 3 

the  forest  openings  ;  and  timid  deer  nipped  the  herbage  in 
secluded  places  and  sought  shelter  from  the  sun  and  rain 
in  the  shady  woods.  And  there  were  other  animals  less 
harmless  than  these  —  bears  in  great  plenty,  packs  of 
wolves,  prowling  panthers,  not  a  few,  and  many  smaller 
and  more  timid  beasts.  Thousands  of  squirrels  played 
unscared  among  the  branches  of  the  trees  ;  and  the  forests 
and  meadows  seemed  alive  with  birds  of  every  kind. 

No  Indians  had  their  dwellings  there.  But  the  tribes 
beyond  the  Ohio,  as  well  as  those  to  the  east,  the  south, 
and  the  west,  sent  their  brave  men  there  every  year.  It 
was  common  ground  for  them  all  —  to  hunt  in,  but  not 
to  live  in  —  and  many  and  fierce  were  the  battles  that 
were  fought  when  the  paths  of  hostile  parties  crossed 
each  other. 

It  was  a  daring  thing  for  Boone  and  his  friends  to  settle 
in  that  country,  for  every  red  man  would  be  their  foe. 
But  they  had  come  to  stay,  and  stay  they  did.  They 
built  at  Boonesborough  a  fort  of  round  logs;  and  under 
its  shadow  they  raised  their  log  cabins,  one  for  each 
family.  Then  around  all  they  erected  a  stout  stockade  — 
a  high  fence  made  of  heavy  squared  timbers,  set  upright 
in  the  ground  and  very  tlose  together.  This  being  done, 
they  felt  themselves  safe  from  any  attacks  the  Indians 
might  make ;  and  they  began  to  clear  away  the  forest 
trees  and  to  make  fields  and  plant  corn. 

Very  soon  other  people  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
heard  of  their  success  and  ventured  to  follow  them.  Other 
settlements  were  made  and  other  forts  were  built  ;  and 
before  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  quite  ended  many 


14  Prelude 

eyes  were  turned  toward  Kentucky  as  the  new  land  of 
promise  in  the  far,  far  West.  But  it  was  like  a  fair  island 
in  the  midst  of  a  dangerous  sea.  The  way  to  it  was  beset 
with  perils  ;  and  notwithstanding  all  the  beauty  and  the 
richness  of  its  land,  it  had  little  to  promise  its  settlers  but 
labor  and  privation.  And  so  the  most  of  those  who 
ventured  to  go    thither   in    search    of    homes   were   men 

careless  of  danger  and  used  to  all  kinds  of  hardship. 

* 
*  * 

At  about  this  time  there  was  living  in  Virginia  a  farmer 
whose  name  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  was  a  friend  of 
Daniel  Boone's,  and  had  heard  often  of  the  wonderful 
country  in  the  heart  of  the  Western  woods.  He  longed  to 
go  there  himself,  for  he  was  something  of  a  hunter  as  well 
as  farmer;  and  Boone  had  sent  him  glowing  accounts  of 
the  abundance  of  game  and  the  richness  of  the  soil.  The 
state  of  Virginia,  to  which  Kentucky  then  belonged,  was 
selling  land  in  the  new  territory  very  cheap.  There  would 
never  be  a  better  time  to  buy. 

And  so,  while  the  great  war  for  independence  was  still 
going  on,  he  sold  his  farm  in  Virginia  and  went  to  Ken- 
tucky  to  look  for  a  new  home.  On  Floyd's 
Fork,  •  near  where  the  ■  city  of  Louisville  now 
stands,  he  bought  four  hundred  acres  of  rich  bottom  land. 
In  another  place  he  bought  eight  hundred  acres  of  wood- 
land, and  in  another  five  hundred.  Then  he  returned  to 
Virginia  for  his  family. 

'The  next  year,  with  his  wife  and  children,  he  was  safely 
settled  on  the  land  near  Floyd's  Fork,  and  was  clearing 
a  farm  in  the  midst  of  the  woods. 


Lincoln  the  Pioneer  15 

The  Indians  had  begun  to  be  troublesome,  and  were 
very  dangerous.  They  were  angry  because  their  hunting 
grounds  had  been  invaded,  and  because  the  wild  game 
was  being  driven  away.  They  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  drive  the  white  people  out  of  Kentucky.  And 
so,  as  a  matter  of  precaution,  Mr.  Lincoln  built  his  cabin 
within  half  a  mile  of  a  fort — Fort  Beargrass,  near  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio   River.      He  did  not  believe  that   the 

Indians  would  dare  to  trouble  him  there. 

* 
*   * 

Thus  three  years  passed.  In  the  meanwhile,  peace  had 
been  made  with  England,  and  it  had  been  agreed  that  the 
Mississippi  River  should  be  the  western  boundary  of  the 
United  States.  Great  numbers  of  people  began  at  once 
to  cross  the  Alleghany  Mountains  to  seek  new  fortunes 
in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Ohio.  Several  settlements  were 
made  in  the  Kentucky  country.  Men  were  busy  cutting 
down  the  trees,  making  roads  through  the  woods,  clearing 
farms,  building  for  themselves  homes  in  the  new  land. 
Soon  there  were  more  than  six  hundred  people  in  the 
town  of  Louisville  ;  and  other  towns  had  sprung  up,  as 
if  by  magic,  in  places  where  lately  the  buffalo  and  the 
deer  had  roamed  unharmed. 

*  * 
One  morning  in  summer,  Farmer  Lincoln  went  out  into 
a  cornfield  near  his  cabin  to  do  some  work.  His  little  son 
Thomas,  who  was  only  six  years  old,  went  with  him.  The 
two  big  boys,  Mordecai  and  Josiah,  were  burning  logs  in 
another  field  close  by.  There  were  still  so  many  dead 
trees  and  blackened  stumps  in  the  clearing  that  the  corn 


1 6  Pniudc 

had  scarcely  room  to  grow  among  them.  On  one  side 
there  was  an  open  space  through  which  one  could  see 
Fort  Beargrass  and  the  houses  of  other  settlers  nearly  a 
mile  away  ;  on  the  other  side  were  green  woods  with  dense 
thickets  of  briers  and  underbrush  where  birds  sang  and 
squirrels  played  and  fierce  beasts  found  lurking  places. 

As  the  two  big  boys  were  busy  with  their  smoking  log 
heaps,  they  were  suddenly  alarmed  by  the  sound  of  a  gun. 
They  looked  across  the  clearing.  They  saw  that  their 
father  had  fallen  to  the  ground.  Their  little  brother  was 
standing  over  him  and  screaming  with  fright.  A  faint 
cloud  of  smoke  was  rising  from  the  bushes  at  the  edge  of 
the  woods. 

"  Indians !  "  cried  Josiah  ;  and  he  was  off  with  a  bound, 
running  like  a  wild  deer  toward  the  fort. 

Mordecai  ran  to  the  house,  calling  to  little  Thomas  to 
follow  him.  But  the  child  stood  by  his  father's  side,  cry- 
ing pitifully  and  not  knowing  what  to  do.  A  minute  later 
the  painted  face  of  an  Indian  peered  out  from  among  the 
bushes.  The  child  screamed  louder  than  before,  and 
turned  to  run.  But  the  Indian  was  after  him.  Little 
Thomas  heard  the  savage  leaping  over  the  fallen  trees; 
he  heard  his  swift  feet ;  he  ran  very  fast,  but  his  pursuer 
ran  much  faster.  At  the  top  of  a  little  hill  the  child  fell. 
The  house  was  in  plain  sight,  and  Mordecai  and  his  mother 
and  sisters  were  safe  inside.  Thomas  scrambled  to  his 
feet;  but  as  he  did  so,  the  Indian's  arm  was  about  him. 
Then  he  heard  the  sharp  crack  of  a  rifle  from  the  house, 
and  the  Indian,  letting  go  of  him,  tumbled  to  the  ground. 

The  child  did  not  stop  to  see  more,  but  ran  faster  than 


Saved  ffom  Peril  1 7 

ver.      In  another  minute  he  was  safe  inside  the  cabin  and 
1  his  mother's  arms. 

Mordecai  was  standing  guard  by  the  window,  with  one 
ifle.in  his  hands  and  two  others  leaning  near  him  against 
16  wall.  Now  and  then  he  would  take  aim  and  fire ;  and 
ivage  yells  could  be  heard  from  the  Indians  who  were 
irking  in  the  edge  of  the  woods.  Then  quite  soon  another 
ind  of  shout  was  heard  in  the  clearing,  on  the  farther  side 
f  the  cabin.  Josiah  had  come  with  a  number  of  men 
rom  the  fort. 

"  They  have  killed  father,"  said  Mordecai,  opening  the 
oor,  "but  the  fellow  who  was  trying  to  catch  Thomas  is 
y^ing  dead  in  the  field.  Let  us  after  them,  and  not  leave 
ne  of  them  alive !  " 

But  the  savages  were  already  skulking  away  through 
he  thick  woods,  and  there  was  no  use  trying  to  overtake 
hem.  *'  I  will  have  vengeance  upon  them,"  said  Mor- 
ecai ;  and  from  that  time  till  the  end  of  his  life,  he  was 

bitter  foe  to  all  Indians. 

Thus  the  pioneer,  Abraham  Lincoln,  like  many  another 
irave  settler  in  the  wilderness,  found  an  untimely  grave  in 
he  land  where  he  had  hoped  to  make  a  home  for  himself 
,nd  his  children. 

*  * 

After  the  death  of  his  father,  hard  times  were  in  store 
or  Thomas  Lincoln  ;  but  they  were  perhaps  no  harder 
han  those  that  came  to  other  pioneer  children  in  Ken- 
ucky.  His  mother  thought  it  would  be  better  to  live  in  a 
nore  thickly  settled  neighborhood ;  and  so  the  family  soon 
noved  some  forty  miles  southeastward,  and  settled  upon 

LINCOLN  —  2 


1 8  Prelude 

a  large  tract  of  land  which  their  father  had  owned 
there. 

It  was  the  law  in  Kentucky  that  when  a  man  died,  his 
eldest  son  should  be  heir  to  his  whole  estate.  And  so, 
when  Mordecai  Lincoln  grew  to  be  of  age,  he  became  the 
owner  of  all  the  property ;  and  Josiah  and  the  two  sisters 
and  young  Thomas  were  left  without  anything.  But  Josiah 
v.'as  steady  and  industrious  and  found  plenty  of  work,  so 
that  he  was  soon  well-to-do  in  the  world ;  the  girls  were 
already  married  and  settled  in  homes  of  their  own;  and 
the  only  one  who  really  felt  the  pinch  of  poverty  was 
little  Thomas. 

He  was  allowed  to  grow  up  in  a  careless  way,  without 
much  knowledge  of  the  world  in  which  he  lived.  There 
were  no  schools  near  his  home,  and  so  he  never  learned  to 
read.  He  became  very  skillful  in  using  a  gun,  and  liked 
much  better  to  be  hunting  in  the  woods  than  doing  any 
kind  of  useful  work  at  home.  He  was  kind-hearted  and 
gentle,  slow  to  anger,  and  a  pleasant  companion.  He  was 
strong  and  brave,  also,  and  no  one  dared  impose  too  far 

upon  his  good  nature. 

* 
*  * 

While  Thomas  Lincoln  was  thus  growing  up,  unheard- 
of  and  unknown,  many  great  things  were  being  done  in 
the  world  of  which  he  knew  so  little.  From  the  states  on 
the  east  side  of  the  mountains  settlers  were  still  pouring 
into  the  new  country.  They  came  in  wagons  over  a  road 
which  Daniel  Boone  had  marked  out  years  before ;  they 
came  in  boats  down  the  Ohio  River.  Wealthy  families 
from  Virginia  came  with  their  slaves  and  their  cattle  and 


Westci'Ji  Progress  19 

their  fine  manners  to  build  up  great  estates  in  the  Ohio 
Valley.  So  many  people  settled  in  Kentucky  that,  when 
Thomas  was  fourteen  years  old,  it  was  separated 
from  Virginia  and  became  a  state.  It  was  the 
fifteenth  state  in  the  Union ;  for  the  thirteen  which  had 
won  independence  had  been  joined  by  Vermont  just  the 
year  before. 

Many  pioneers  from  the  Carolinas  made  their  homes  in 
the  country  south  of  Kentucky,  and  there,  in  1796,  the 
sixteenth  state,  Tennessee,  was  formed.  The  great  terri- 
tory north  of  the  Ohio  River,  which  had  been  claimed  by 
Virginia  and  other  states,  had  finally  been  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  and  was  being  rapidly  settled  by  people 
from  all  parts  of  the  East.  But  it  was  still  the  home  of 
powerful  tribes  of  Indians  who  were  not  willing  to  be  de- 
prived of  their  lands  and  who  were  determined  to  defend 
their  hunting  grounds;  and  so  for  many  years  a  cruel  war 
was  waged  between  the  red  men  and  the  white.  The 
backwoods  settlements  were  often  the  scenes  of  terrible 
deeds.  Battles  were  fought  and  treaties  were  made,  and 
at  last  the  Indians,  knowing  themselves  beaten,  sold  their 
lands  and  went  farther  west.  In  1802  the  easternmost 
part  of  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  River  became  a 
state  and  was  called  Ohio.  All  the  rest  of  that  vast  region 
of  woodland  and  prairie  was  called  Indiana  Territory. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  young  Thomas  Lincoln, 
growing  up  in  the  backwoods  of  Kentucky,  knew  very 
much  about  any  of  these  things.  I  doubt  whether  at  that 
time  he  had  ever  seen  a  newspaper;  and,  indeed,  of  what 
use  would  a  newspaper  have  been  to  one  who  could  not 


20  Prelude 

read  ?  He  probably  did  not  know  that  about  the  time  he 
was  passing  his  tenth  birthday,  George  Washington  was 
elected  the  first  President  of  the  United  States.  In  1796, 
when  John  Adams  was  chosen  to  be  the  second  President, 
the  boy  was  eighteen,  and  it  is  likely  that  he  heard  some 
talk  concerning  the  election,  but  without  understanding  or 
caring  much  about  it.  But  in  1800,  when  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son was  elected,  the  young  Kentuckian  was  of  age  and 
might  have  voted  ;  and  yet  we  must  believe  that  he  cared 
far  more  for  deer  hunting  in  the  woods  than  he  did  for 
election  day  or  for  politics. 

In  1803  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  boundaries 
of  our  country.  Until  then,  as  has  already  been  told,  the 
United  States  reached  only  to  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
Kentucky  was  spoken  of  as  being  in  the  far,  far  West. 
But  in  that  year  President  Jefferson  bought  from  France 
all  the  country  that  lies  between  the  great  river  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Look  at  a  map  of  the  United 
States,  and  you  will  see  that  more  than  half  of  our  country 
lies  there.  Count  the  states  that  have  since  been  formed 
out  of  the  Louisiana  Territory,  as  it  was  then  called,  and 
they  are  more  than  equal  to  the  original  thirteen  that 
fought  for  independence. 

At  that  time,  however,  all  that  region  was  a  wild  land 
where  few  white  men  had  ever  dared  to  go.  Just  how 
wide  it  was,  or  how  long,  or  where  it  ended,  or  what  it 
contained,  no  one  knew.  By  the  purchase  of  this  territory, 
however,  the  Mississippi  River  became  all  our  own,  and 
the  people  living  in  the  West  had  now  a  free  outlet  by 
water  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     They  could  send  whatever 


TJiomas  Lincoln  2i 

they  had  to  sell  down  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  and  this 
was  of  much  advantage  to  them.  Within  a  very  few  years 
the  Mississippi  became  the  great  highway  of  trade  between 
the  settlements  in  the  West  and  the  rest  of  the  world. 
For  you  must  know  that  there  were  no  railroads  at  that 
time,  nor  until  many  years  later.  Indeed  there  were 
scarcely  any  roads  of  any  kind ;  and  for  the  Western  set- 
tlers to  carry  grain  or  goods  of  whatever  sort  to  or  from 
the  states  east  of  the  mountains  was  a  thing  so  difficult 

and  costly  that  it  was  hardly  to  be  thought  of. 

* 
*  * 

Thomas  Lincoln  was  now  twenty-five  years  old.  Since 
early  boyhood  he  had  been  obliged  to  make  his  own  way 
in  the  world.  Easy-going  though  he  was,  everybody  liked 
him ;  and  so  he  was  never  without  a  home  or  something 
to  do.  He  had  been  careful  of  his  small  savings,  and 
was  at  last  able  to  buy  a  piece  of  wild  land  in  Hardin 
County  not  far  from  Elizabethtown. 

In  Elizabethtown  there  lived  a  carpenter  whose  name 
was  Joseph  Hanks.  He  had  known  Thomas  Lincoln  for 
a  long  time,  and  he  now  asked  him  to  come  and  live  with 
him  and  help  him  at  his  trade.  Young  Lincoln  was 
known  to  be  very  skillful  with  an  ax  or  a  froe,  and  that 
was  about  all  the  skill  that  a  good  carpenter  needed  in 
those  days.  For  the  building  of  a  house  was  a  very 
simple  matter.  The  walls  were  made  of  round  logs,  and 
the  roof  and  floor  of  boards  split  from  a  tree.  Wooden 
pegs  were  used  instead  of  nails,  and  often  there  was  not 
a  piece  of  iron  or  a  pane  of  glass  in  any  part  of  the 
house. 


22  Prelude 

Being  always  careful  to  do  his  work  well,  Thomas 
Lincoln  soon  became  known  as  a  first-rate  carpenter. 
But  the  habits  of  his  boyhood  still  clung  to  him.     He  was 

* 

contented  with  earning  simply  his  food  and  clothing ;  he 
loved  his  rifle  better  than  his  ax;  and  he  would  rather 
hunt  deer  than  build  houses. 

It  was  while  living  thus  in  Elizabethtown  that  he  first 
met  Nancy  Hanks,  the  niece  of  his  employer.  She  was 
a  fair  and  delicate  girl ;  but  like  young  Lincoln  she  had 
been  used  to  hardships  all  her  life.  Her  parents  had 
been  neighbors  and  friends  of  old  Abraham  Lincoln  years 
before,  when  all  lived  in  Virginia.  They  had  also  been 
friends  of  Daniel  Boone  and  had  been  drawn  to  Kentucky 
by  the  glowing  accounts  that  were  given  of  the  richness 
of  its  soil  and  the  plentifulness  of  everything  necessary 
to  support  life. 

There  were  few  girls  in  that  neighborhood  who  were 
the  equals  of  Nancy  Hanks.  She  could  read  and  write, 
and  they  could  not.  She  had  learned  that  somewhere 
outside  of  the  Western  country  there  was  a  great,  busy 
world  where  people  lived  and  thought  in  ways  quite  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  folk  whom  she  knew;  and  she 
had  a  vague  longing  for  something  better  in  life  than  what 
the  rude  settlements  in  the  backwoods  could  ever  give  her. 
But  her  companions  were  content  with  the  little  world 
which  they  could  see  around  them,  and  did  not  feel  the 
hardships  which  were  a  part  of  their  lives. 

In  the  midst  of  rudeness  and  coarseness,  Nancy  Hanks 
was  always  gentle  and  refined.  We  cannot  wonder  that 
when  Thomas  Lincoln  came  to  live  in  the  same  town  with 


Our  Coicntry  in  1808  23 

her,  he  lost  his  heart.  And  we  must  believe  that  when 
she  at  last  promised  to  be  his  wife,  she  had  been  won  by 
his  kindly  nature  and  his  jovial  manners  rather  than  by 
any  energy  of  character  which  he  possessed. 

It  was  in  June,  1806,  that  the  wedding  took  place. 
The  bride  was  twenty-three  years  old,  and  the  groom 
was  five  years  older.  For  a  year  and  more  they  lived 
in  Elizabethtown,  and  Thomas  Lincoln  went  hunting 
often  and  tinkered  occasionally  at  his  trade,  thus  con- 
triving to  find  food  for  both  himself  and  his  wife.  There 
were  not  many  houses  to  be  built,  and  there  were  other 
carpenters  more  energetic  than  he ;  and  so  there  was 
but  little  work  to  be  done,  and  no  prospect  of  more. 

A  little  daughter  was  born  to  the  young  couple ;  and 
then  it  was  decided  to  move  out  to  the  land  which  Thomas 
owned  on  Nolin  Creek  ;  for  game  was  still  plentiful  in  the 
woods,  and  corn  could  be  raised  in  the  clearings,  and  life 

would  be  easier  in  a  home  which  they  could  call  their  own. 

* 
*  * 

And  now  while  Thomas  Lincoln  is  building  his  cabin, 
and  before  we  begin  the  story  of  the  great  man  who  was 
born  there,  let  us  take  a  brief  view  of  the  condition  of  our 
country  at  that  time. 

Thirty-two   years    have   passed  since  that  4th  of    July 

when  independence    was   declared.     Great  changes  have 

taken    place,    some  of  which  we    already  know.       ^  . 

1808 
The    country  is  no  longer  bounded  on  the  west 

by  the  Mississippi  River,  but  reaches  all  the  way  to  the 

Rocky    Mountains.     Yet   it   does  not   include  Florida  or 

Texas,    or     New     Mexico,    or    California :    for    these    are 


24  Prelude 

still  held  by  Spain.  The  region  between  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  Mississippi  is  dotted  in  many  places  with  little 
settlements ;  the  forests  are  being  rapidly  cut  away  to 
give  place  to  fields  and  orchards  and  roads.  Instead  of 
thirteen  states,  there  are  seventeen ;  and  three  of  these  lie 
west  of  the  mountains. 

The  Indians  still  live  in  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio ; 
but  they  have  sold  a  large  part  of  their  land  and  many  of 
them  have  moved  across  the  Mississippi ;  they  are  still 
feared  in  the  Northwest,  but  in  Kentucky  they  are  no 
longer  the  dreaded  foes  that  they  once  were.  James 
Madison  has  been  elected  the  fourth  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  1809,  he  will 
take  his  seat.  In  the  Eastern  states  men  are  excited  and 
troubled,  for  they  fear  that  another  war  with  England  is 
at  hand.  But  in  the  West,  people  hear  little  news  of 
what  is  going  on  ;  and  they  are  so  busy,  clearing  the 
woods  and  fencing  their  farms  and  building  homes  that 
they  have  little  time  to  think  about  other  matters. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 


-o-O^^JrJOO- 


BOOK    THE    FIRST  — PREPARATION 
I.     A    HUMBLE   HOME 

NEARLY  a  hundred  years  ago  in  what  was  then  Har- 
din  County,    Kentucky,  a  child  was  born  who  was 


1809 


destined  to  become  one  of  the  greatest  of  men.  The  day 
was  the  12th  of  February;  the  year  was  One 
Thousand  Eight  Hundred  Nine.  The  parents  of 
the  child  were  very  poor,  and  the  house  in  which  they 
lived  was  poorer  than  any  you  have  ever  seen.     Humble 

25 


26  Abraham  Lincoln 

and  unknown,  they  little  dreamed  that  through  the  birth 
of  that  child  they  would  be  remembered  and  honored  by 
millions  of  people  and  for  unnumbered  years  thereafter. 

"What  shall  we  name  this  baby  boy  of  ours?"  asked 
the  gentle  mother. 

"Let  us  call  him  Abraham,"  said  the  father.  "The 
Lincoln  family  has  always  had  an  Abraham  in  it." 

The  child  was  not  at  all  pretty,  but  he  was  strong  and 
grew  fast.  The  poor  log  cabin  where  he  first  saw  the 
light  was  not  an  unpleasant  place  to  him.  True,  it  was 
dark  and  cold,  doorless  and  floorless,  and  the  chilling 
wind  whistled  through  the  crevices  in  the  rough  walls ; 
but,  safe  from  harm,  the  child  lay  in  his  mother's  arms 
and  was  as  happy  as  any  little  prince  could  be  in  the 
marble  chambers  of  a  king's  palace. 

When  the  boy  became  old  enough  to  walk  and  run,  he 
spent  much  of  the  time  playing  with  his  sister  Sarah,  who 
was  two  years  older  than  himself.  The  children  had  no 
toys,  —  they  did  not  know  what  toys  were,  —  but  they 
were  happy  without  them.  On  warm,  fair  days  they 
were  allowed  to  run  among  the  trees  in  the  grove  close 
by  the  house ;  and  Abraham  learned  very  early  to  love 
the  birds,  the  squirrels,  and  all  the  timid,  pretty  things 
that  make  their  homes  in  the  woods.  Sometimes,  cling- 
ing to  his  mother's  gown,  he  would  trudge  with  her 
across  the  fields  to  a  neighbor's  house,  or  to  the  spring 
for  a  pail  of  water,  or  to  the  meadow  to  see  her  milk  the 
cow.  Often  of  an  evening  he  would  run  down  the  wood- 
land path  to  meet  his  father  coming  home  with  an  ax  or 
a  gun,  or  perhaps  with  a  deer  on  his  shoulder. 


A  Humble  Home  27 

The  child  had  no  shoes  for  his  feet;  and  his  clothing 
was  scanty  and  poor.  His  father  had  no  money  to  buy 
flannel  or  calico  or  cloth  of  any  kind ;  and  so  the  little 
that  Abraham  had  to  wear  was  made  by  his  mother  at 
home.  She  made  him  trousers  of  deerskin,  and  a  shirt 
and  jacket  of  coarse  tow  cloth.  He  had  no  hat;  but 
when  he  grew  larger  she  made  him  a  coonskin  cap  which 
he  wore  with  the  ringed  tail  of  the  animal  hanging  down 
his  back.  And  he  was  well  pleased  with  his  clothing ; 
for  his  father  was  dressed  no  better,  and  his  little  sister 
hardly  as  well. 

There  was  only  one  room  in  the  log  cabin.  It  served 
as  parlor,  sitting  room,  bedroom,  and  kitchen,  all  at  the 
same  time.  There  was  no  iloor,  but  only  the  bare  ground, 
made  very  hard  and  smooth.  Sometimes  in  cold  weather 
the  mother  would  spread  a  bearskin  before  the  fire  for  the 
children  to  sit  upon ;  and  this  was  the  only  carpet  they 
ever  knew.  There  was  no  door,  but  only  some  rough 
boards  leaned  up  in  the  doorway  at  night,  or  perhaps  the 
bearskin  was  hung  over  it  to  keep  out  the  snow  and  sleet. 

There  was  no  ceiling  overhead,  but  only  the  smoky 
joists  and  the  rough  boards  of  the  roof ;  and  on  clear 
nights  the  children  could  look  up  from  their  bed  and 
see  the  stars  peeping  down  through  the  cracks  between. 
There  was  no  glass  in  the  one  little  window,  and  no  way 
to  close  it  but  by  hanging  the  skin  of  a  deer  or  some 
smaller  animal  before  it,  thus  shutting  out  not  only  the 
cold  but  the  Hght  also. 

At  one  corner  of  the  room  there  was  a  rude  bedstead 
made  of  rough  poles  from  the  woods.     On  it  was  a  pile  of 


28  Abraham  Lmcoln 

t 

furry  skins,  and,  for  aught  I   know,  a  thin  feather  bed ; 

and  covering  all  was  a  quilt  of>a,re  patchwork,  made  by 
the  mother  when  she  was  a  light-hearted  girl  and  her 
name  was  Nancy  Hanks.  There  were  no  chairs,  but  only 
some  rough  wooden  blocks  to  sit  upon ;  and  the  table  was 
merely  a  broad  shelf,  made  by  driving  two  long  pegs  into 
the  wall  and  then  laying  a  smooth  board  upon  them. 

At  the  end  of  the  room  farthest  from  the  bed  there 
Avas  a  huge  fireplace  made  of  stones  and  clay.  It  was  so 
large  that  logs  as  big  as  a  man's  body  were  rolled  into 
it  and  heaped  one  upon  another  for  the  winter  fire;  and 
although  these  logs  would  crackle  and  blaze  at  a  great 
rate,  and  the  flames  would  roar  in  the  chimney,  and  the 
firelight  would  fill  the  room  with  its  brightness,  the  cabin 
in  winter  was  often  a  very  cold  and  comfortless  place. 

It  was  by  this  fireplace  that  the  mother  did  all  her  cook- 
ing. But  she  had  not  many  things  to  cook.  For  meat 
there  was  usually  plenty  of  venison.  It  was  boiled  in  a  pot 
hung  over  the  fire,  or  sometimes  broiled  on  the  live  coals. 
The  bread  was  made  by  mixing  corn  meal  with  water  or 
sour  milk,  so  as  to  form  cakes  of  thick  dough,  which  were 
then  covered  with  the  hot  ashes  in  the  fireplace.  Some- 
times the  dough  was  put  into  a  Dutch  oven,  the  oven  was 
set  upon  the  hearth,  and  red-hot  coals  were  kept  beneath 
and  upon  it  until  the  bread  was  baked.  Wheat  bread  was 
a  luxury  which  only  the  richest  people  could  afford  ;  the 
Lincolns  scarcely  knew  how  it  tasted. 

In  one  corner  by  the  chimney  were  the  dishes,  ranged 
upon  a  shelf  :  a  few  pewter  plates,  a  tin  cup  or  two,  some 
treasured  pieces  of  earthenware,  and  a  wooden  trencher  — 


A  Hnviblc  Home 


29 


and  that  was  all.  In.  the  other  corner,  resting  on  two 
pegs,  was  the  father's  rifle  ;  and  hanging  from  one  of  the 
pegs  were  his  powderhorn,  his  bullet  pouch,  and  his 
hunter's  belt.  Over  the  fireplace  were  some  bunches  of 
dried  herbs  to  be  used  for  tea  in  case  of  sickness ;  and 
perhaps  also  a  few  simple  trinkets  and  keepsakes  were 
hung  there,  as  ornaments  and  as  reminders  of  absent 
friends.  And  on  the  hearth  were  ranged  the  cooking 
utensils  —  the  Dutch  oven,  a  pot  or 
two,  and  a  skillet  or  frying  pan. 

If  you  had  visited  that  poor  cabin, 
you  would  hardly  have  seen  more 
than  I  have  told  you  about.  To  you 
it  would  have  seemed  a  wretched 
place  with  none  of  the  comforts  of 
home.  But  to  those  who  lived  in 
it,  it  did  not  seem  so ;  for  it  was  as 
good  a  home  as  many  of  their 
neighbors  had,  and  their  minds  were 
cheered  day  by  day  with  the  hope  that  better  times  were 
coming.  To  the  children  who  had  never  known  any  other 
home,  little  else  seemed  needed.  Here  were  kind  parents, 
shelter,  and  food,  a  bed  to  sleep  in,  a  fire  to  warm  one's 
self  by  —  and  what  more  could  anybody  want .-' 

As  soon  as  Abraham  Lincoln  was  old  enough  to  under- 
stand, his  mother  took  great  pains  to  teach  him  to  be  duti- 
ful and  true.  Taking  him  upon  her  lap,  she  would  tell 
him  stories  which  he  never  forgot  of  brave  and  good  men, 
who  had  lived  beautiful  lives  and  done  noble  deeds.  And 
often  in  the  evenings  by  the  glow  of  the  fireUght,  while 


A  Dutch  Oven 


30  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  children  nestled  at  her  feet  on  the  warm  hearth,  she 
would  read  to  them  from  a  wonderful  Book  which  she 
kept  with  great  care  among  her  little  treasures.  The  boy 
could  not  understand  much  that  he  heard ;  but  the  sound 
of  his  mother's  voice  pleased  him,  and  he  wished  that  he 
too  could  learn  to  read.  And  so  it  was  a  pleasant  task 
for  his  mother  to  teach  him  the  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
and  for  him  to  learn  how  to  spell  easy  words  long  before 
he  could  go  to  school. 

The  father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  could  not  read;  he  did 
not  even  know  the  alphabet  until  his  wife  taught  it  to 
him.  But  he  could  tell  strange,  true  stories  —  stories  of 
things  that  he  had  seen  or  heard,  or  that  had  happened 
to  himself.  He  liked  best  to  tell  about  hunting,  and  about 
wild  animals,  and  wild  Indians,  and  about  the  brave  pio- 
neers who  had  settled  Kentucky  when  all  the  land  was 
covered  with  woods. 

There  was  one  story  in  particular  which  he  related  over 
and  over  to  his  delighted  listeners :  It  was  about  a  bold 
settler  who  went  out  one  morning  to  work  in  his  field. 
The  settler's  little  boy,  six  years  old,  was  with  him,  very 
glad  to  help  his  father  pull  up  the  weeds  from  among 
the  growing  corn.  All  at  once,  the  child  was  startled 
by  hearing  the  sharp  report  of  a  gun.  He  looked  up 
and  saw  his  father  stagger  and  fall  to  the  ground.  He 
saw  an  Indian  leap  from  among  some  bushes  and  run 
toward  him.  With  wild  screams  he  turned  and  fled 
across  the  field  as  fast  as  his  little  legs  would  carry 
him  ;  but  the  Indian  was  soon  upon  him  —  had  caught 
him  ?.n   his  rude  arms  —  was  carrying    him  away   to   the 


Boy  Life  in  the  Backwoods  31 

woods.  Then  there  was  another  sharp  crack  of  a  gun  ; 
the  Indian  tumbled  headlong  in  the  dust ;  and  the  little 
boy,  thus  set  free,  ran  swiftly  to  the  house  and  to  his 
mother's  safe  embrace.  His  brother  had  saved  him  by 
shooting  the  cruel  Indian. 

When  Thomas  Lincoln  had  finished  this  story  he  would 
look  at  the  children  and  say :  "  The  poor  man  whom  the 
savage  Indian  killed  was  your  own  grandfather ;  his  name 
was  the  same  as  yours  —  Abraham  Lincoln  ;  and  the  little 
fellow  who  ran  so  fast  and  screamed  so  loud  grew  up  to 
be  a  man  —  and  he  is  your  own  father." 

And  then,  as  the  children  crept  nearer  to  him,  clinging 
to  his  knees,  he  would  tell  them  that  they  need  not  be 
afraid  of  Indians,  for  those  savage  people  had  been 
driven  far  away,  and  now  very  few  of  them  were  ever 
seen  in  Kentucky. 

II.     BOY   LIFE   IN   THE   BACKWOODS 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  was  four  years  old  his  father 
sold  his  first  farm  and  bought  another  which  was  thought 
to  be  much  better ;  and  so  the  family  moved  over 
the  hills  and  settled  in  a  new  place  on  the  banks 
of  a  small  stream  called  Knob  Creek.  But  the  cabin 
which  sheltered  them  was  little  better  than  the  one  they 
had  left,  and  to  the  tender  mother  it  never  seemed  so 
much  like  home. 

There  were  three  children  now ;  for  besides  Sarah  and 
Abraham  there  was  a  baby  brother  who  was  called 
Thomas,  after  his  father.     He  was  always  a  feeble  little 


l^ 


A  braha  ui  L  iiicoln 


fellow,  and  with  every  care  that  his  mother  was  able  to 
give  him  he  could  gather  no  strength. 

One  day,  with  wondering  eyes,  the  brother  and  sister 
saw  the  baby  laid  tenderly  in  a  rude  box  which  their  father 
had  nailed  together;  and  when  they  had  kissed  his  cold 
cheeks,  a  neighbor  lifted  the  box  upon  his  shoulders  and 
carried  it  out    of  the  cabin ;     and    then  with    awed    foot- 


steps, and  holding  their  weeping 

they  followed  the  man 

far  down  the  winding  S 

scarcely  knowing 

went  or   what 


mother's  hand, 
and  his  burden 
meadow  path, 
whither  they 
happened  at 
the  end  of  the 
journey.  The 
baby  never  re- 
turned to  the 
poor  cabin. 
After  that,  so 
long  as  the  sum- 
mer lasted,  they 
went  daily  with  their 
mother  to  see  a  little 
mound  of  fresh  earth 
that  had  been  made' 
under  the  trees  near  the 
path ;  and  on  the  way  they 
gathered  violets  and  daisies  and  red 
clover 'blossoms  which  their  mother  laid  upon  the  mound 
and  watered  with  her  tears.  It  was  all  very  strange  and 
sad ;  and  they  did  not  notice  at  the  time  that  a  light  had 


The  Knob  Creek  Home 


Boy  Life  in  tJie  Backzvoods  33 

gone  out  of  their  mother's  eyes  which   would  nevermore 
return. 

This  was  the  boy's  first  knowledge  of  sorrow ;  but  he 
very  soon  began  to  learn  much  about  the  hardships  and 
distresses  that  are  the  lot  of  the  poor.  His  father  was  in 
constant  trouble  concerning  the  ownership  of  the  land, 
which  he  had  bought  in  good  faith,  but  which  he  now 
found  was  claimed  by  other  persons  ;  his  mother,  worn  with 
anxiety  and  care,  grieved  for  her  lost  baby  and  could 
not  be  comforted ;  the  poor  log  cabin  at  Knob  Creek 
had  but  few  comforts  and  still  fewer  pleasures  to  offer 
its  inmates. 

When  Abraham  was  about  five  years  old,  a  wandering 
schoolmaster  came  into  the  settlement.  His  name  was 
Zachariah  Riney,  and  he  was  a  Catholic.  There 
was  no  schoolhouse ;  but  one  of  the  neighbors 
offered  him  the  use  of  an  old  log  cabin  if  he  would  open 
a  school  in  it.  The  poor  people  could  not  pay  him  much 
for  teaching  their  children ;  for  none  of  them  had  any 
money.  But  they  agreed  to  give  him  what  they  could  — 
some  to  give  him  board  and  lodging,  some  to  wash  and 
mend  his  clothing,  and  some  to  do  him  other  kinds  of  ser- 
vice —  and  so  he  came  to  stay  a  little  while  among  them 
and  teach  their  children  as  best  he  could. 

I  think  this  must  have  been  the  first  school  that  was 
ever  taught  in  that  neighborhood.  Most  of  the  scholars 
were  big  boys  and  girls  who  had  grown  up  without  seeing 
books.  Very  few  of  them  could  read ;  and  there  were 
young  men  and  young  women  among  them  who  did  not 
so  much  as  know  one  letter  from  another. 

H 

LINCOLN  —  3 


34  Abraham  Lincoln 

To  this  school  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  sister  Sarah 
were  sent.  It  was  their  mother's  doing,  for  the  father  did 
not  care  for  book  learning.  "I  never  went  to  school,"  he 
said,  "and  I  guess  I've  got  along  just  as  fairly  as  other 
people.  If  a  man  knows  how  to  chop  well  and  shoot 
straight,  he  don't  need  to  be  a  scholar."  But  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln thought  otherwise. 

Abraham  was  the  youngest  of  the  pupils ;  and  the  big 
boys  and  girls  were  surprised  to  find  that  he  could  outspell 
them  all.  For  spelling  was  the  only  branch  of  study 
taught  at  that  school.  No  other  book  was  used  but  a 
little  blue-backed  spelling  book  with  a  few  reading  lessons 
at  the  end;  and  it  was  thought  that  if  any  one  should 
learn  all  the  words  in  that  volume  he  would  be  very  wise 
indeed.  But  it  was  only  for  a  few  weeks  that  the  school 
could  be  kept  up.  The  boys  and  girls  were  needed  at 
home,  and  the  people  could  not  pay  the  master  to  stay 
longer. 

The  next  year  another  schoolmaster  came.  His  name 
was  Caleb  Hazel,  and  he  opened  a  school  in  the  same 
old  cabin.  The  same  boys  and  girls,  with  some  of  the 
younger  children  in  the  settlement,  were  his  pupils. 
The  master  was  thought  to  be  very  bright;  for  he  was 
a  good  speller,  and  was  strong  enough  to  whip  the  biggest 
boy  in  the  district.  But  nobody  seemed  to  know  what 
the  school  was  for. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  learned  but  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  and  long  lists  of  words.  The  girls  were  idle 
and  thoughtless ;  and  the  boys  cared  for  nothing  but  to 
annoy   the   master.       Little   Abraham    Lincoln   kept   his 


Boy  Life  in  the  Backivoods  35 

place  at  the  head  of  his  class,  and  for  that  reason  was 
admired  by  some  and  disliked  by  others  who  were  much 
older  than  himself. 

Within  less  than  three  months  this  school  also  came  to 
an  end  ;  but  the  boy  did  not  stop  learning.  Young  as  he 
was,  study  had  already  become  a  pleasure  to  him.  The 
Bible,  that  wonderful  old  book  which  his  mother  loved, 
was  often  in  his  hands. 

In  the  long  winter  evenings  he  would  sit  on  the  hearth 
and  read  by  the  flickering  light  of  the  fire.  Sometimes 
when  the  flames  died  down  he  would  gather  bits  of  spice- 
wood  brush  and  throw  them,  a  few  at  a  time,  upon  the 
coals  so  that  they  might  blaze  up  and  serve  him  as  candles. 
All  his  studying  was  aloud,  and  when  he  came  to  a  big 
word  which  he  could  not  make  out,  his  mother  would 
help  him  pronounce  it. 

There  were  no  churches  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
But  wandering  preachers  often  came  and  held  meetings, 
sometimes  in  the  cabins  of  friendly  settlers,  sometimes 
under  the  trees  in  the  open  air. 

At  Little  Mound,  several  miles  away,  there  was  a  cabin 
where  there  was  preaching  quite  often,  and  the  Lincoln 
family  were  very  fond  of  going  there.  Sometimes  the 
meetings  would  be  nearer  home,  at  the  house  of  a  neigh- 
bor. Sometimes  the  preacher  would  visit  them  in  their 
own  cabin,  to  taste  of  their  venison  and  corn  cake  and 
talk  with  them  on  many  subjects  regarding  both  this  life 
and  the   life  to  come. 

Among  these  preachers  there  was  one  for  whom  the 
family  felt  a  more  than  common   friendship.     His   name 


36  .  Abraham  Lijuoln 

was  David  Elkin,  and  to  him,  more  than  any  other,  they 
confided  the  story  of  their  hardships,  their  griefs,  and 
their  hopes.  The  only  way  in  which  he  could  help  them 
was  by  giving  them  his  kindly  sympathy,  for  he  was  even 
poorer  than  they. 

The  young  lad  found  much  delight  in  listening  to  these 
preachers.  He  looked  upon  them  as  indeed  great  men ; 
and  his  hope  was  that,  some  day,  he  himself  might  be  a 
public  speaker  like  them.  Often  when  he  came  home 
from  meeting,  he  would  stand  up  on  the  hearth  and  play 
the  preacher  while  his  mother  and  sister  listened  to  his 
noisy  shouting ;  and  when  the  neighbors'  children  came 
to  visit  them,  he  would  mount  upon  a  log  or  a  stump  and 
make  queer  speeches  until  they  were  tired  of  hearing. 

No  newspapers  were  seen  in  the  cabins  of  the  Knob 
Creek  settlers ;  and  it  was  only  through  rumors  and  the 
talk  of  neighbors  that  anything  was  known  of  the  busy 
world.  It  was  by  listening  to  such  talk  and  by  asking 
questions  of  his  mother  that  Abraham  got  his  first  knowl- 
edge of  the  great  country  of  which  he  would  one  day  be 
the  ruler.  But  his  thoughts  about  it  were  very  crude  and 
simple. 

One  day  when  he  was  playing  by  the  creek,  he  caught  a 
little  fish  in  his  hands.  He  was  much  pleased  and  hur- 
ried to  carry  it  home.  But  as  he  was  running  along  the 
road,  he  met  a  man  who  wore  a  faded  blue  cap  and  had 
brass  buttons  on  his  coat.  He  had  seen  a  man  dressed  in 
a  similar  fashion  once  before,  and  had  been  told  that  he 
was  a  soldier.  And  so  he  stopped  and  asked,  "Are  you 
a  soldier  ? " 


Boy  Life  in  iJic  Backwoods  37 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "  I  was  with  General  Jackson, 
and  I  fought  through  the  war." 

The  boy  laid  the  little  fish  in  the  man's  hand,  and  ran 
home  happier  than  if  he  had  caught  a  dozen  fishes.  His 
mother  had  taught  him  that  he  should  always  be  kind  to 
soldiers,  and  so  he  had  given  to  this  one  the  only  thing  in 
the  world  that  he  could  call  his  own.  Had  he  been  a  little 
older  he  would  have  understood  much  more  about  the  war 
which  had  just  then  been  ended.  But  he  was  only  three 
years  old  when  it  began,  and  now  he  was  barely  six. 

The  War  of  1812,  as  it  is  called,  was  caused  by  Eng- 
land's overbearing  acts  toward  Americans.  For  months 
before  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  whole  country  was  in 
a  state  of  dread  and  distress.  The  chief  fear  of  the  people 
in  the  West  had  been  lest  the  Indians  should  unite  with 
the  English  and  again  attack  the  settlements.  But  Ameri- 
can soldiers  under  General  Harrison  had  met  a  large  band 
of  Indians  at  Tippecanoe,  in  Indiana.  A  great  fight  had 
taken  place,  in  which  the  red  men  were  so  badly  beaten 
that  they  did  not  dare  to  give  any  more  trouble  in  that 
region  for  a  long  time  to  come.  During  the  war  many 
battles  were  fought  on  sea  and  land,  and  the  distress  of 
the  people  increased.  Finally,  the  American  soldiers 
under  General  Jackson  gained  a  wonderful  victory  over 
the  English  in  the  famous  fight  at  New  Orleans. 

It  was  of  these  things  that  Abraham  Lincoln  had  heard 
much  talk  which  he  could  not  understand.  But  this  at 
least  was  clear  to  him,  that  it  was  one's  duty  to  stand  up 
for  his  country  and  to  be  kind  to  the  soldiers  who  risked 
their  lives  in  its  defense. 


38  Abraham  Lincoln 


III.     RESTLESS  THOMAS  LINCOLN   GOES  TO   INDIANA 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  was  seven  years  old  his  father 
sold  the  land  which  he  had  in  the  Knob  Creek  settlement. 
He  had  never  been  sure  of  his  title  to  it,  for  there  were 
other  men  who  claimed  to  have  an  earlier  and  better  right 
to  it;  and  so  he  was  glad  to  be  rid  of  the  worry  of  it, 
although  he  had  to  sell  it  for  very  Httle.  He  was  a  dreamy, 
restless  man,  fond  of  the  freedom  of  the  backwoods,  and 
caring  but  little  for  the  comforts  of  civilized  life.  Such 
men  are  always  found  pushing  on  toward  the  frontier  and 
clearing  the  way  for  settlers  of  a  more  enterprising  class. 

He  had  heard  that  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  Indiana, 
there  was  a  wild  and  wonderful  region,  where  the  soil  was 
rich  and  game  was  plentiful,  and  where  one  might  soon 
have  everything  he  needed,  and  a  free  title  to  his  land 
could  not  be  disputed.  So  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go 
across  the  Ohio,  and  find  in  that  newer  country  a  better 
home  for  his  family  than  he  had  yet  been  able  to 
give  them.  Indiana  was  still  a  thinly  settled 
territory ;  but  it  was  to  become  a  state  that  very  year,  and 
people  were  crowding  into  it  and  buying  up  the  land  very 
fast.  Thomas  Lincoln  felt  that  now  was  the  time  to  bet- 
ter himself  if  he  ever  meant  to  do  so. 

With  his  ax  and  saw  he  set  to  work  and  built  a  rude 
raft  which  he  launched  on  the  waters  of  a  small  but  deep 
stream  called  Rolling  Fork  —  a  stream  that  emptied  after 
a  few  miles  into  Salt  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio.  On 
this  raft  he  loaded  his  kit  of  carpenter's  tools  and  some 


Restless   Thomas  Lincoln  goes  to  Indiana  39 

barrels  of  liquor  which  he  had  received  in  part  pay  for 
his  farm.  He  thought  that  in  the  new  settlements,  where 
many  houses  were  being  built,  he  could  make  good  use 
of  the  tools  ;  and  he  believed  that  he  could  also  find  a 
market  for  the  liquor. 

The  two  children  and  their  mother  watched  him  with 
tearful  eyes  as  he  pushed  off  from  the  shore  and  floated 
slowly  down  the  creek  toward  the  unknown  land  of  prom- 
ise. When  he  was  lost  to  view  in  a  bend  of  the  stream, 
they  returned  to  the  lonely  cabin,  which  was  now  no  longer 
their  own,  but  which  they  would  be  allowed  to  occupy  until 
his  return. 

When  the  raftsman  reached  the  Ohio  River,  he  found 
that  the  eddies  and  currents  were  too  strong  for  him.  His 
little  raft  was  driven  here  and  there  among  the  rocks  and 
snags  until  it  was  tipped  over  and  the  barrels  and  tools 
were  tumbled  off.  Happily  the  water  at  that  spot  was  not 
deep,  and  the  shore  was  close  at  hand.  With  the  help  of 
a  friendly  boatman  who  happened  to  be  near,  almost 
everything  was  saved ;  and  a  few  days  later,  Thomas  Lin- 
coln stood  on  the  Indiana  shore  with  all  his  little  property 
piled  up  before  him.  He  was  told  that  only  a  few  miles 
farther  north  there  was  plenty  of  fine  land  waiting  for  any 
one  who  was  wilUng  to  buy  it  at  the  government  price, 
which  was  two  dollars  an  acre,  payable  in  small  install- 
ments. And  so  having  disposed  of  his  barreled  goods  to 
his  satisfaction,  he  started  on  foot  through  a  dense  forest, 
looking  for  a  place  to  make  his  home. 

He  did  not  go  far.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first 
day,  he  arrived  at  a  spot  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  best 


40  Abraham  Lincoln 

in  all  that  region.  Here  was  a  stretch  of  rich  bottom 
land,  with  a  stream  called  Pigeon  Creek  flowing  through 
it,  and  on  either  side  were  gently  sloping  hills  covered 
with  a  mighty  growth  of  trees.  Settlers  were  already 
beginning  to  buy  in  the  neighborhood,  and  one  of  them, 
whose  name  was  Gentry,  was  talking  of  setting  up  a  store 
and  starting  a  village.  Thomas  Lincoln  lost  no  time, 
therefore,  in  choosing  a  site  for  his  farm  ;  and  there  he 
drove  a  stake  into  the  ground  to  show  that  he  had  the 
first  claim  upon  it. 

The  next  day,  at  dawn,  he  set  out,  with  his  gun  on  his 
shoulder,  to  walk  to  the  land  office  at  Vincennes,  seventy 
miles  away. 

It  was  a  long  and  hard  journey,  and  we  are  not  told 
how  many  days  he  spent  on  the  way.  Vincennes  was 
then  the  chief  town  in  Indiana.  It  had  been  settled  by 
the  French  nearly  a  hundred  years  before,  but  it  was  still 
a  backwoods  village.  Thomas  Lincoln  found  its  streets 
crowded  with  hunters  and  traders  and  land  buyers  from  all 
parts  of  the  territory.  He  made  his  way  directly  to  the 
land  office,  where  he  laid  out  every  dollar  that  he  had  in 
the  world,  in  part  payment  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  lying  near  Pigeon  Creek  in  Spencer  County,  about 
eighteen  miles  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  He  then  started 
back  to  Kentucky,  to  bring  his  wife  and  children  to  their 
new  home. 


A  Flintlock  Rifle 


A    Winter  in  a  J I  a  If -faced  Cavtp 


41 


IV.     A  WINTER   IN    A   HALF-FACED   CAMP 


It  was  late  in  the  fall  when  the  Lincoln  family  bade 
good-by  to  the  Kentucky  settlement  on  Knob  Creek  and 
began  their  journey  through 
the  wilderness.  They  had  not 
much  to  take  with  them.  The 
few  cooking  utensils  and  the 
little  bedding  which  they  owned 
were  strapped  on  the  backs  of 
two  borrowed  horses.  Then  all 
set  out  on  foot,  by  the  nearest 
road,  to  the  Ohio  River.  At 
night  they  camped  in  the  woods 
by  the  roadside.  The  father 
with  his  rifle  killed  plenty  of 
wild  game  for  their  food ;  and  friendly  settlers  along  the 
road  often  invited  them  to  share  their  humble  meals. 

The  distance  from  the  old  home  to  the  new,  measured  upon 
a  straight  line,  was  but  Httle  more  than  forty  miles.  But 
they  traveled  very  slowly,  and  it  was  a  full  week  before 
they  reached  their  journey's  end.  Over  a  great  part  of 
the  way  there  was  no  road  of  any  kind ;  and  there  they 
had  to  cut  their  way  through  the  thick  woods.  At  last, 
one  cold  November  day,  they  reached  the  spot  which  the 
father  had  chosen.  It  was  a  desolate  outlook  :  no  house^ 
no  shelter,  no  neighbors  to  welcome  them  lo  their  firesides. 
The  leaves  had  fallen  from  the  trees  ;  the  air  was  chill 
and  damp  ;  the  sky  was  hidden  behind  leaden  clouds  from 


42  AbraJiani   Lincoln 

which  a  few  snovvflakcs  were  slowly  falling.  Was  there 
ever  a  home-coming  so  empty  of  joy  ? 

And  yet  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  wife  were  not  down- 
hearted. The  thought  that  this  spot  was  to  be  their 
home  gave  delight  to  the  dreary  scene.  The  father  was 
strong,  and  easily  contented  with  any  lot;  but  the  frail, 
delicate  mother  was  little  able  to  endure  the  added  dis- 
comforts which  must  now  be  theirs. 

Soon  the  father  and  little  Abraham  were  busy  felling 
trees  and  clearing  a  small  opening  in  the  woods.  It  was  the 
work  of  only  a  few  hours  to  build  what  the  settlers  called  a 
"  half-faced  camp."  This  was  nothing  more  than  a  shed 
made  of  poles  and  covered  with  broad  pieces  of  bark. 
The  three  sides  that  were  most  exposed  to  the  winter 
winds  were  inclosed  ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  south 
side  was  left  open.  The  cracks  between  the  poles  were 
filled  with  leaves  or  sticks  and  pieces  of  clay ;  and  a  part 
of  the  opened  side  was  screened  with  skins  hanging  down 
from  the  roof  pole.  At  one  end  of  the  shed  was  the  bed 
where  the  family  slept.  Opposite  the  open  south  side, 
a  fire  blazed  between  two  great  logs,  and  there  the  meals 
were  cooked  and  eaten.  This  fire  was  kept  burning  night 
and  day,  and  its  warm  rays  made  a  part  of  the  shed  quite 
comfortable,  even  in  the  chilliest  weather. 

In  this  rude  shelter  the  Lincoln  family  lived  all  that 
winter.  The  father  was  busy  every  day  with  his  ax,  cut- 
ting down  trees,  hewing  logs  for  a  new  house,  and  making 
a  clearing  for  a  cornfield.  The  patient  mother  kept  things 
as  tidy  as  she  could,  and  cooked  their  simple  meals. 
They  had  meat  in  plenty ;    for  the  woods    were   full   of 


A    Winter  tn  a  Half-faced  Camp  43 

squirrels  and  wild  turkeys.  Deer,  too,  often  came  within 
gunshot  range  of  the  camp.  The  mother  knew  how  to 
handle  the  rifle  well,  and  more  than  one  dinner  of  venison 
was  secured  by  her  skill. 

One  morning  Abraham,  hearing  the  gobble  of  wild 
turkeys,  peeped  out  and  saw  a  flock  of  the  big  birds 
marching  close  by  the  camp.  Their  leader  was  a  noble 
old  fellow,  as  fine  a  gobbler  as  was  ever  seen.  The  lad 
ran  quickly  and  took  his  father's  rifle  from  the  pegs  where 
it  hung.  Then  he  pushed  its  muzzle  through  a  crack 
in  the  wall,  took  aim,  and  fired.  When  the  smoke  cleared 
away,  he  saw  the  gobbler  stretched  dead  upon  the  ground. 
At  first  he  was  proud  of  having  brought  down  such  noble 
game ;  and  then  his  pride  gave  way  to  pain  at  the  thought 
of  having  taken  the  life  of  an  innocent  creature.  It  was 
the  first  time  that  he  had  knowingly  harmed  any  living 
being.  After  that  he  often  followed  game  in  the  wild 
woods,  but  only  when  the  family  were  in  need  of  meat 
for  food.  The  gentle-hearted  lad,  unlike  his  father,  could 
not  see  any  sport  in  hunting. 

There  were  many  cold  days  during  that  lonely  winter, 
when  the  barefoot  boy  could  not  go  out  to  help  his  father 
in  the  clearing.  On  such  days  he  would  stay  in  the  camp 
with  his  mother  and  read.  Among  the  two  or  three  books 
which  they  had  brought  from  Kentucky  there  was  a  little 
pamphlet  that  he  liked  to  read  very  much.  It  was  a  brief 
true  story  of  a  young  man  named  Henry  Clay,  who  by 
hard  labor  and  perseverance  had  made  himself  a  leader  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation.  Like  Abraham  himself,  he  had 
been  a  poor  boy, — he   had  been  called    "The   Mill   Boy 


44  AbraJimn  Lincoln 

of  the  Slashes,"  —  but  now  he  was  a  very  great  man  whom 
everybody  honored.  The  lad  could  not  fully  understand 
all  the  story,  but  it  pleased  him  and  he  read  it  over  and 
over  many  times. 

It  was  during  these  days  also  that  he  learned  to  write. 
His  mother  was  his  teacher,  and  his  first  copies  were 
probably  made  with  charcoal  on  smooth  pieces  of  bark. 
Paper  was  a  precious  thing  —  too  precious  to  be  found 
in  that  poor  camp.  Ink  there  was  none,  unless  it  may 
have  been  the  juice  of  poke  berries  or  of  walnut  hulls. 
But  Abraham  Lincoln  did  the  best  that  he  could  with 
whatever  came  to  hand,  and  before  the  winter  was  well 
over  he  could  write  fairly  well.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
early  habit  of  his,  of  making  the  best  of  his  small  oppor- 
tunities, it  is  not  likely  that,  in  after  years,  he  would  have 
done  anything  that  you  or  I  would  care,  to-day,  to  read 
about. 

V.     HOW   THE   HEWED-LOG   HOUSE  WAS   BUILT 
^?^  When  spring  came,  all  hands  were 

^  5 

busy  burning  logs  and  brush  heaps  in 

the  clearing,  and  planting  corn  in  the 

rich  soil  among  the  stumps.     It  was 

not    till    late    in    the    summer    that 

A  Broad  Ax,  used  for     Thomas    Lincoln    had    all    the    logs 

^^^"^  ready  with  which  to  build  their  new 

house.     He  had  promised  himself  and  his  wife  that  this 

house  should  be  much  better  than  the  one  they  had  left 

in  Kentucky,  and  so  he  had  carefully  hewed  and  squared 


Hoiv  the  Hctvcd-log  House  ivas  Built  45 

the  logs,  and  had  notched  their  ends  so  that  they  would 
fit  snugly  one  upon  another  when  they  were  put  in 
place. 

In  September  all  the  neighbors  for  miles  around  were 
invited  to  come  to  the  house  raising  ;  and  a  fine  dinner  of 
venison  and  green  corn  with  stewed  pumpkin  and  a  relish 
of  wild  plums,  was  served  in  the  grove  near  the  half-faced 
camp.  When  the  walls  had  been  raised  and  the  roof  of 
rough  clapboards  was  laid  over  all,  everybody  looked  with 
admiration  at  the  new  building  and  said  that  Thomas  Lin- 
coln was  certainly  a  good  carpenter  and  that  there  was  no 
better  house  in  the  Pigeon  Creek  settlement,  if  indeed  in 
the  whole  new  state  of  Indiana. 

The  family  had  become  so  tired  of  the  half-faced  camp, 
that  they  moved  into  the  new  house  at  once.  It  was  far 
from  being  finished  ;  and  many  a  day  elapsed  before  its 
easy-going  builder  found  time  to  make  it  a  comfortable 
place  to  live  in.  There  was  a  fireplace  and  chimney  at  one 
end  of  the  single  room,  just  as  there  was  in  the  old  Ken- 
tucky cabin.  A  floor  had  been  promised,  but  sawed 
pianks  were  things  not  plentiful  where  there  were  no  saw 
mills,  and  it  would  take  time  and  much  hard  work  to  split 
and  hew  flat  "  puncheons  "  to  be  used  instead.  There 
were  places  for  two  windows,  but  no  glass  was  bought  to 
put  into  them.  There  was  but  one  doorway,  and  yet 
Thomas  Lincoln,  the  carpenter,  would  rather  hunt  deer  in 
the  woods  than  make  a  door  with  which  to  shut  out  the 
wind  in  stormy  weather.  The  logs  had  ])een  nicely  hewn 
and  smoothed,  but  nothing  had  yet  been  done  to  "chink" 
the  cracks  between  them. 


46  Ahi-aJiain  Lincoln 

The  walls  had  been  built  high,  so  as  to  make  an  upper 
half-story  ;  but  there  were  only  bare  joists  of  round  poles 
to  show  where  the  lower  room  ended  and  the  upper  room 
began.  Some  time  after  this,  a  few  clapboards  were  laid 
across  the  joists,  and  in  one  corner  of  the  loft  thus  formed, 
a  bed  of  leaves  and  straw  was  thrown  down.  This  was 
Abraham's  bedchamber,  and  the  only  way  of  getting  into 
it  was  by  cHmbing  a  ladder  made  by  driving  long  pegs  one 
above  another  into  the  wall  below. 

You  would  think  this  unfinished  cabin  a  dreary  place 
indeed  ;  but  to  the  Lincolns  it  was  so  much  better  than 
the  half-faced  camp  that  it  seemed  as  good  as  a  palace. 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  aunt,  Betty  Sparrow,  and  her  husband, 
Thomas  Sparrow,  now  moved  into  the  camp.  They  had 
but  lately  come  from  Kentucky,  and  were  even  poorer  than 
the  Lincolns.  They  had  no  children  of  their  own,  but 
they  brought  with  them  a  young  nephew  who  was  a  few 
years  older  than  Abraham,  and  whose  name  was  Dennis 
Hanks. 

Thomas  Lincoln's  one  great  fault  was  the  putting  off  of 
things.  When  the  family  moved  into  the  unfinished  cabin, 
he  fully  intended  to  put  everything  into  perfect  shape  very 
soon.  But  the  weather  was  warm,  and  everybody  was 
comfortable,  and  why  need  he  hurry  }  There  was  work 
to  be  done  in  the  clearing  ;  and  the  woods  were  so  full  of 
game  that  he  must  go  hunting.  When  the  weather  grew 
colder,  the  corn  had  to  be  gathered  ;  and  when  winter  came, 
with  its  snow  and  wind,  it  was  not  pleasant  to  do  any  kind 
of  work,  and  the  family  could  live  in  the  house  as  it  was 
until  spring.     In  the  spring  the  crops  had  to  be  planted, 


A   Great  Sorrow  47 

and  there  was  so  much  plowing  and  grubbing  and  log- 
rolling to  be  done  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  no  time  to  think 
of  floors  and  doors  and  of  chinks  in  the  walls.  In  the 
summer  the  weather  was  so  hot  that  it  would  be  foolish  to 
close  up  the  windows  or  hang  the  door  or  daub  the  cracks 
which  let  in  the  welcome  breezes.  And  so  time  passed, 
and  the  fine,  comfortable  house  that  had  been  promised 
was  never  finished. 

There  are  people,  known  to  both  you  and  me,  who  have 
this  habit  of  putting  off  things ;  but  they  are  not  people 
who  succeed  well  in  life. 

VI.     A   GREAT   SORROW 

The   second  summer  in   Indiana,   like  the  first,  was  a 

summer  of    much  hard  work   and    little  play.     Abraham 

Lincoln  was  now  in  his  ninth  year,  and  there  were 

lo  lo 
many  things  that  he   could  do.       He    could    do 

almost  a  man's  work  with  an  ax  ;  and  much  of  his  time 

was  spent  in  the  clearings,  chopping   down  trees,  piling 

brash,  and  burning  logs.     Sometimes  he  helped  his  mother 

about  the  house  and  garden  ;  and  sometimes  he  went  on 

errands  to  the  neighbors  or  to  the  little  village  of  Gentry- 

ville  which  had  sprung  up  two  miles  away. 

If  you  could  see  him  as  he  was,  you  would  think  him 

an  odd-looking  child.     He  was  tall  for  his  age,  and  very 

homely.     He  was  dressed  much  as  we  saw  him  in  the  old 

Kentucky  home,  in  trousers  of  tanned  deerskin  and  shirt 

of  homespun  tow  or  linsey-woolsey.     During  most  of  the 

year  he  wore  nothing  more.     If  he  had  a  coat  for  Sundays, 


48  Abraham  Lincoln 

it  was  made  of  the  coarsest  home-made  goods,  and  per- 
haps had  aheady  done  service  as  the  garment  of  another. 
For  shoes  he  had  a  pair  of  moccasins  which  his  mother 
had  made  for  him,  and  these  he  wore  only  when  the 
weather  was  very  cold.  Stockings  he  had  none,  nor  did 
he  ever  wear  any  until  he  was  a  grown-up  man.  He  did 
not  think  it  a  hardship  to  be  thus  so  poorly  clad  ;  for  the 
rest  of  the  family,  and  other  men  whom  he  knew,  were 
dressed  in  the  same  poor  fashion. 

Autumn  came  again,  and  with  it  came  trouble  and 
sorrow.  A  strange  disease  had  broken  out  among  the 
settlers.  It  was  believed  to  be  caused  by  some  plant 
which  grew  in  the  woods.  If  cows  ate  the  plant,  their 
milk  was  made  poisonous,  and  those  who  drank  of  it 
■grew  sick  and  were  almost  sure  to  die.  On  account  of 
this  belief  the  disease  was  called  "  milk-sick."  Some- 
times the  cows  themselves  died ;  but  nobody  could  ever 
find  the  strange  plant,  or  describe  its  appearance  or 
manner  of  growth.  The  disease  was  known  only  in  new 
settlements  among  the  clearings  and  the  woods ;  and 
physicians,  even  to  this  day,  have  been  unable  to  tell 
what  was  its  true  cause. 

Thomas  Sparrow  and  his  wife  were  the  first  to  be 
attacked  by  this  dreadful  sickness.  The  narrow  half- 
faced  camp  which  was  their  home  was  a  cheerless  place 
at  its  best,  and  the  disease  did  its  work  quickly.  Two 
graves  were  made  side  by  side,  on  the  sunny  slope  of  a 
hill,  and  there  the  poor  people  were  laid  by  their  sorrow- 
ing kinsfolk  and  neighbors.  And  then  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's mother  was  stricken  down.     The  hardships  of  the 


A   Great  Sorrow  49 

past  two  years  had  already  taken  the  Hush  of  health  from 
her  cheeks.  Ivxposure  to  dampness  and  cold  in  the  camp 
and  the  unfinished  cabin  had  robbed  her  of  her  strength  and 
made  her  an  easy  victim  to  the  disease.  Her  husband 
and  children  nursed  her  with  tender  care,  and  did  all  they 
could  to  help  her.  There  was  no  doctor  for  whom  they 
could  send  ;  but  they  gave  her  such  simple  remedies  as 
they  had,  and  were  always  at  her  bedside,  watching  her 
with  loving  eyes. 

One  morning  very  early,  when  the  gray  daylight  was 
beginning  to  struggle  through  the  chinks  of  the  cabin, 
she  reached  out  her  arms  and  drew  the  lad  Abraham 
toward  her.  "  My  boy,  I  am  going  away,  and  you  will 
not  see  me  again.  Be  good — I  know  you  will.  Help 
your  father.  Take  good  care  of  your  sister.  Live  as  I 
have  taught  you,  and  love  God  always."  And  then  the 
end  came. 

With  his  own  hands  Thomas  Lincoln  made  a  rude  coffin 
of  boards  for  his  wife;  for  there  was  no  one  in  all  the 
settlement  whom  they  could  ask  to  do  this  sad  service. 
Then,  one  quiet  afternoon,  when  the  nuts  were  falling  in 
the  woods  and  the  trees  were  dropping  their  brown  and 
yellow  leaves,  they  bore  her  to  her  last  resting  place. 
Under  the  spreading  branches  of  a  sycamore  tree,  on  the 
side  of  a  hillock  some  distance  from  the  cabin,  they  buried 
her  silently  and  with  much  sorrow.  The  grave  had  been 
made  in  the  place  which  she  herself  had  chosen  when  still 
in  health. 

In  all  that  backwoods  country  there  was  as  yet  no  place 
of  public  worship.     There  was  no  preacher  who  could  be 

LINCOLN  —  4 


50  Abraham  Lincoln 

invited  to  come  to  the  funeral  and  speak  words  of  comfort 
and  hope  to  the  mourners.  The  few  neighbors  who  had 
come  in  kindness  to  do  what  they  could  returned  sadly  to 
their  homes,  each  having  his  own  griefs  and  burdens 
to  bear.  And  with  hearts  bowed  down  with  their  great 
sorrow,  the  lad  Abraham  and  his  sister  Sarah  slowly 
followed  their  father  back  to  their  desolate  cabin. 

VII.     "MY   ANGEL   MOTHER" 

To  the  sorrowing  child,  not  yet  ten  years  old,  it  seemed 

a  terrible  thing  that  his  mother  should  be  laid  in  the  ground 

and  no  religious  services  be  held  above  her.     "  If 
1818 

only  some  good ^ man  were  here,"  he  thought  — 

"  if   only  some  traveling  preacher  would  come  into  the 

settlement ! " 

Then  he  thought  of  good  David  Elkin,  whom  they  had 
known  in  the  old  Kentucky  home.  If  he  could  be  told  of 
their  loss,  perhaps  he  would  come  even  now  and  preach 
a  sermon  by  her  grave.     But  how  could  he  be  told } 

Sitting  by  the  lonely  hearth  at  home,  Abraham  thought 
of  a  plan.  He  would  write  a  letter  to  his  mother's  old 
friend.  He  would  tell  him  of  their  sorrow,  and  ask  him 
to  come.  But  this  was  no  easy  task.  Where  could  he 
find  paper  and  pen  and  ink }  Who  would  carry  the  letter 
after  it  was  written }  And  where,  indeed,  was  David 
Elkin,  the  wandering  preacher,  to  be  found  } 

In  the  backwoods  people  learn  to  do  much  with  but 
little.  They  are  not  daunted  by  difficulties.  In  the 
thumb-worn    spelling   book    which   the    lad    had    studied 


"  My  Angel  Mother''  51 

at  Caleb  Hazel's  school  there  was  a  blank  fly  leaf,  and 
this  was  paper  enough.  Poke  berries  were  hanging  ripe 
on  their  stalks  by  many  a  charred  stump  in  the  clear- 
ing, and  their  blood-red  juice  would  serve  very  well  for 
ink.  In  the  wings  of  the  wild  turkey  which  the  father 
had  killed  in  the  woods  there  were  plenty  of  quills,  and 
of  one  of  these  a  pen  could  be  made. 

The  letter  was  written,  and  folded,  and  addressed  to 
David  Elkin  in  Kentucky.  But  there  was  no  post  office, 
and  there  were  no  carriers  of  mail  in  that  part  of  the 
country.     How  was  it  to  be  sent  to  its  destination  } 

One  of  the  neighbors  was  about  to  start  on  some  sort 
of  business  to  a  point  on  the  Ohio  River.  He  would  carry 
the  letter  as  far  as  he  went,  and  then  give  it  to  some  other 
person  who  was  going  still  farther  in  the  right  direction. 
This  second  person  would  hand  it  to  another,  and  he, 
perhaps,  to  still  another,  until  at  last,  if  no  mischance 
happened,  it  would  reach  the  hands  of  the  one  to  whom 
it  was  directed.  To  Abraham  Lincoln  there  was  nothing 
strange  about  this  way  of  sending  a  letter  —  it  was  the 
only  way  that  he  knew  ;  it  was  the  common  custom  in  that 
early  day  among  the  people  of  the  West. 

The  dreary  winter  came,  the  dreariest  that  the  boy  had 
ever  known.  The  wind  whistled  through  the  open  chinks 
in  the  walls,  the  snow  and  sleet  beat  in  at  the  unprotected 
door.  The  comfortless  cabin  was  more  comfortless  than 
ever  before,  for  she  who  had  been  the  light  of  the  home 
was  no  longer  there.  Little  Sarah,  eleven  years  old,  was 
the  housekeeper.  The  father,  still  putting  off  the  things 
that  needed  most  to  be  done,  sat  by  the  fire  at  home,  or 


52  AbraJiajH  Lincoln 

wandered  about  the  clearings  with  his  ax  or  his  gun. 
Dennis  Hanks,  since  the  death  of  his  aunt,  Betty  Sparrow, 
had  come  to  Uve  with  the  Lincolns ;  for  he  had  no  other 
kinsfolk  or  friends  to  give  him  food  or  shelter.  He  was 
older  than  Abraham,  and  made  himself  useful,  chopping 
wood  and  feeding  the  stock  and  hunting  game  in  the 
woods. 

At  last  the  days  grew  longer  and  cheerier.  Spring 
came,  and  the  woods  were  gay  with  wild  flowers,  and  full 
of  the  melody  of  singing  birds  ;  and  then,  one  day,  David 
Elkin,  the  preacher,  rode  up  to  the  cabin  door.  He  had 
received  Abraham's  letter.  In  response  to  it  he  had  rid- 
den a  hundred  miles  through  the  wild,  new  country,  often 
without  so  much  as  a  path  to  guide  him  ;  he  had  swum 
rivers  which  the  spring  rains  had  swollen  into  torrents ; 
he  had  slept  in  the  woods  while  wolves  howled  in  the 
thickets  about  him  ;  he  had  braved  all  sorts  of  danger, 
suffered  weariness,  endured  hunger  —  and  for  what } 
Merely  to  stand  by  the  closed  grave  of  a  poor  woman, 
to  tell  about  her  goodness  and  gentleness,  and  to  speak 
encouragement  to  those  who  had  loved  her.  For  this  he 
expected  no  reward,  neither  gifts  nor  gold,  nor  the  praise 
of  men,  but  only  the  satisfying  thought  that  he  had  done 
his  duty.  Certainly,  when  the  roll  of  the  world's  heroes 
is  made  up,  the  name  of  humble  David  Elkin  will  stand 
far  higher  than  those  of  many  men  who  have  done  greater 
deeds  but  done  them  selfishly. 

Word  was  sent  to  the  neighbors  that  a  preacher  had 
come  to  preach  Nancy  Lincoln's  funeral  sermon.  Neigh- 
bors carried  the  news  to   neighbors,  and  when  the  next 


''My  Angel  Mother'' 


53 


Sabbath  came,  the  settlers  quietly  met  together  on  the 
hillside  near  the  spreading  sycamore.  Many  of  them  had 
walked  long  distances,  some  had  come  on  horseback,  some 
in  wagons.  This  preaching  of  a  funeral  sermon  was  a 
great  event,  and  men,  women,  and  children  were  anxious 
to  hear  it.  More  than  two  hundred  persons  were  there. 
It  was  a  greater  company 
than  had  ever  before  been 
gathered  together  in  that 
scattering  settlement. 

When  the  sun  had  al- 
most reached  the  place  of 
noon,  the  preacher  gave 
out  a  hymn,  line  by  line 
— for  there  were  no  hymn 
books  for  the  worshipers 
—  and,  line  by  line,  the 
women  and  girls,  with 
their  sweet,  but  untrained 
voices,  joined  him  in  sing- 
ing   it.      A  short   prayer 

was  offered ;  and  then  the  preacher  began  his  sermon.  It 
was  not  a  scholarly  sermon,  but  it  was  full  of  earnestness 
and  feeling,  and  was  just  the  kind  of  speech  which  the 
unlearned  listeners  could  understand.  Its  subject  was,  of 
course,  the  gentle  woman  whose  memory  was  so  dear  to 
all  who  had  known  her.  And  the  preacher  spoke  most 
feelingly  of  her  patience  and  faith,  and  of  her  high  ideals 
of  life  —  ideals  which  she  had,  with  loving  care,  taught 
and  imparted  to  her  children. 


The  Grave  of  Lincoln's  Mother  as  it 
now  appears 


54  Abraham  Lincoht 

At  length  the  sermon  was  ended ;  another  hymn  was 
sung ;  the  benediction  was  pronounced ;  and  then  the 
people  slowly  separated,  and  went  thoughtfully  homeward. 
As  for  the  lad,  Abraham  Lincoln,  he  felt  that  now  one 
great  duty  to  his  mother  had  been  performed,  and  he  was 
happier  than  he  had  been  since  she  went  away.  But  a 
still  greater  duty  remained :  to  shape  his  life  from  that 
day  forward  in  accordance  with  her  teachings,  and  to  make 
his  character  such  as  he  knew  she  would  like  it  to  be. 
He  went  home  with  noble  thoughts  in  his  heart.  Although 
but  ten  years  old,  he  was  no  longer  a  child.  He  was 
resolved  to  be  a  man  of  the  type  which  his  mother  would 
admire  and  commend. 

Long  years  afterward,  when  he  had  won  honor  and 
fame,  and  was  assured  of  a  place  among  the  great  men  of 
the  world,  he  said,  "  All  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  hope  to 
be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother." 

VIII.     LONELY   DAYS   AT   PIGEON   CREEK 

There  was  much  hard  work  to  be  done  on  the  farm, 

and  the  two  boys,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Dennis  Hanks, 

_         were  busy  early  and  late.     Between  the  plantins: 

1819  v  ^ 

and    hoeing,    the    grubbing    and   logrolling,    the 

splitting  of  rails  and  the  building  of  fences,  there  was 
little  time  for  play.  Dennis  Hanks  and  the  neighbors' 
boys  took  much  pleasure  in  trapping  possums  and  wild 
turkeys,  and  sometimes  on  moonlit  nights  they  went  out 
coofi  hunting  with  their  dogs,  and  had  grand  fun.  Some- 
times they  would  persuade  Abraham  to  go  with  them  ;  but 


Lonely  Days  at  Pigeon  Creek  55 

in  the  heat  of  the  chase  he  was  sure  to  lag  far  behind,  for 
it  pained  him  to  see  any  creature  tortured  or  put  to  death. 

He  was  far  better  pleased  when  he  could  sit  at  home 
in  the  chimney  corner  and  pore  over  his  books.  He  had 
only  two  or  three,  but  he  read  them  again  and  again.  It 
was  his  habit  to  read  aloud  —  the  thoughts  seemed  so 
much  more  vivid  to  him  when  he  could  hear  the  words  as 
well  as  see  them.  This  habit  I  suppose  began  with  his 
first  reading,  when  his  mother  was  his  teacher  and  most 
delighted  listener.  It  was  a  habit  which  he  retained  to 
the  end  of  his  life. 

About  this  time  two  new  books  came  into  his  hands,  but 
where  he  got  them  I  cannot  tell.  One  was  an  arithmetic ; 
and  many  were  the  evenings  which  he  spent,  studying  the 
rules,  and  ciphering  by  the  dim  light  of  the  fire.  He  had 
no  slate — ^ perhaps  had  never  seen  one;  but  he  made  his 
figures  on  a  smooth  clapboard  or  wooden  shovel,  using  a 
piece  of  charcoal  for  a  pencil. 

The  other  book  was  a  worn  and  torn  copy  of  "  yEsop's 
Fables."  It  was  a  delightful  book.  Its  queer  conceits 
tickled  the  boy's  fancy,  and  he  liked  to  repeat  to  the 
other  lads  its  quaint  anecdotes  about  talking  beasts  and 
birds.  In  this  way  he  began  to  acquire  that  pleasant  art 
for  which  he  was  always  noted  —  the  art  of  telling  enter- 
taining stories. 

One  day  in  the  late  fall  Thomas  Lincoln  put  on  his 
best  suit  of  homespun,  shouldered  his  gun,  and  left  home. 
He  did  not  tell  any  one  where  he  was  going,  but  said  that 
it  might  be  a  few  days  before  he  would  come  back.  The 
three  children  thus  left  alone,  were  not   much  troubled 


5 6  Abraham  Lincoln 

by    his   absence,    for   they  were   used   to  taking   care  of 
themselves. 

In  the  woods  were  squirrels  and  turkeys  and  deer ;  and 
Dennis  Hanks,  with  his  traps  and  gun,  would  supply  them 
with  meat.  There  was  plenty  of  corn  in  the  cabin  loft ; 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  with  the  tin  "gritter,"  would  grit 
as  much  meal  as  they  wanted  for  bread.  There  was  a 
cow  in  the  field,  and  milk  to  be  had  for  the  milking;  and 
Sarah  Lincoln,  twelve  years  old,  knew  how  to  broil  venison 
on  the  coals  and  bake  corn  dodgers  in  the  Dutch  oven. 
Although  there  was  no  danger  of  starving,  yet  the  poor 
children  were  in  a  sad  plight  for  clothes.  Since  their 
mother  had  gone  from  them,  more  than  a  year  before, 
they  had  had  no  one  to  care  for  them.  They  were  in 
rags.  The  boys  had  outgrown  their  deerskin  trousers. 
Winter  was  coming,  and  they  had  not  clothing  enough  to 
keep  them  warm. 

Days  and  weeks  passed,  and  the  father  did  not  come 
home.  The  house  of  the  nearest  neighbor  was  so  far 
away  that  the  children  seldom  saw  any  one  but  themselves. 
The  unfinished  log  house  seemed  drearier  and  lonelier 
than  ever  before. 


IX.     IMPROVED   CONDITIONS 

Early  one  December  morning  before  the  sun  was  above 
the  trees,  the  children  in  the  house  heard  some  one  halloo 
from  the  edge  of  the  woods.  They  ran  out,  and  were 
surprised  to  see  a  wagon  with  four  horses  coming  down 
the  lane  toward  the  house.     A  stranger  was  driving;  and 


Improved  Conditions 


57 


A  Buckeye 
Broom 


on  the  seat  beside  him  was  their  father ;  and  peeping  out 
from  beneath  the  white  wagon  cover  were  the  faces  of  a 
woman  and  three  children.  Abraham  and  Sarah  Lincohi 
could  hardly  believe  their  eyes,  as  they  waited 
in  silent  wonder  by  the  door,  not  knowing  what 
change  of  fortune  was  at  hand. 

The  wagon  drew  up  before  the  house,  and 
their  father  leaped  to  the  ground.  Then  the 
woman  and  the  children  climbed  out  over  the 
wheels. 

"  Abraham  and  Sarah,"  said  their  father, 
"this  is  your  new  mother.  And  I  have 
brought  you  a  new  brother  and  two  new 
sisters,  too." 

They  saw  that  the  woman  had  a  kind,  good  face,  and 
that  the  children,  who  were  about  their  own  age,  were 
dressed  in  warm,  neat  clothes.  The  new  mother  greeted 
them  very  pleasantly,  making  them  feel  at  once  as 
though  they  had  found  a  friend.  And  when  she  went 
into  the  cabin,  it  seemed  already  a  cheerier  place  than  it 
had  been  for  many  a  month. 

Soon  the  wagon  was  unloaded,  and  Abraham  and  Sarah 
were  surprised  to  see  the  many  fine  and  wonderful  things 
that  the  new  mother  had  brought  with  her.  There  were 
chairs,  and  a  feather  bed,  and  a  bureau  with  drawers,  and 
a  wooden  chest,  and  many  other  things  such  as  their  poor 
house  had  never  known.  And  from  the  wooden  chest  the 
kind  woman  lifted  such  a  supply  of  clothing  as  they  had 
not  seen  before  ;  and  soon  the  children  had  put  off  their 
rags  and    tatters,    and    were    dressed    in    neat    homespun 


58  AbraJiatn  Lincoln 

which  made  them  feel  so  awkward,  and  yet  so  warm,  that 
they  scarcely  knew  themselves. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  when  he  left  home,  had  gone  back  to 
Elizabethtown  in  Kentucky,  where  in  his  younger  days  he 
had  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter.  He  went  for  the 
purpose  of  calling  upon  Mrs.  Sarah  Johnston,  a  widow  lady 
who  lived  there  with  her  three  children,  John,  Sarah,  and 
Matilda.  He  had  known  Mrs.  Johnston  when  she  was  a 
young  girl  and  her  name  was  Sarah  Bush  ;  and  now  it 
was  quite  easy  to  persuade  her  to  become  his  wife,  and  be 
a  second  mother  to  his  children. 

In  Elizabethtown  there  lived  a  man  whose  name  was 
Ralph  Crume,  and  whose  wife  was  Thomas  Lincoln's 
sister.  He  owned  a  good  four-horse  team,  and  a  stout 
wagon  that  had  been  built  for  Kentucky  roads.  He  was 
glad  of  an  excuse  to  see  the  new  country  beyond  the  Ohio  ; 
and  so  he  readily  agreed  to  take  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  his  bride 
and  his  stepchildren  and  some  household  goods,  back  to 
the  home  in  Indiana.  This  Ralph  Crume  was  the  stranger 
whom  Abraham  and  Sarah  first  saw  when  they  ran  to  the 
door  in  answer  to  their  father's  shout.  To  them  he  seemed 
to  be  a  very  great  man  with  his  four  horses  and  his  big 
wagon. 

The  coming  of  the  new  mother  wrought  many  changes. 
Thomas  Lincoln  was  soon  partly  cured  of  his  habit  of  put- 
ting off  things.  I  suppose  that  he  must  have  been  anxious 
to  show  his  wife  how  good  a  carpenter  he  could  be  when  he 
chose  to  try.  For  he  set  to  work  at  once,  with  ax  and  broad- 
ax,  to  hew  smooth  "  puncheons,"  or  slabs,  for  the  floor  of  his 
cabin.     When  these  were  laid  in  their  places  and  fastened 


Improved  Conditions  59 

down  with  wooden  pegs,  the  house  began  to  look  much 
more  habitable.  Then,  with  the  help  of  the  boys, 
the  cracks  in  the  wall  were  chinked  with  clay,  and  a 
sufficient  number  of  rough  clapboards  were  rived  to  make 
a  good  floor  for  the  loft. 

The  crowning  piece  of  work  was  the  door,  which  was 
made  of  sawed  planks,  battened  together,  and  was  hung  on 
wooden  hinges.  When  closed  it  was  fastened  with  a 
wooden  latch  which  could  be  lifted  with  a  string.  During 
the  day,  the  end  of  this  string  was  passed  through  a  hole 
and  hung  on  the  outside  of  the  door.  Then  "  the  latch- 
string  was  out"  to  all  comers,  and  any  person  could  open 
the  door  and  enter.  But  at  night  the  string  was  drawn 
inside,  and  then  no  one  could  come  in  without  first  knock- 
ing for  admission.  As  for  the  windows,  there  was  no  use 
thinking  of  glass  ;  and  so  Mr.  Lincoln  fitted  wooden  frames 
into  the  openings,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  hung  neat  curtains 
before  them  which  could  be  closed  when  the  weather  was 
rough,  and  drawn  when  it  was  fine.  And  thus,  after 
more  than  two  years  of  putting  off,  the  cabin  was  finished. 
It  was  a  pleasanter  place  than  you  would  imagine;  and  it 
had  been  made  so  by  the  good  management  of  the  new 
mother. 

There  were  now  six  children  in  the  family  —  three 
boys  and  three  girls  —  and  every  one  was  old  enough 
to  lend  a  hand  and  be  useful.  There  were  merry  times 
in  the  cabin  and  in  the  fields  and  clearings,  and  plenty 
of  drudging  work  had  to  be  done.  In  the  clearings 
trees  were  to  be  cut  down,  logs  piled  and  burned,  roots 
grubbed  up,  and  fences  built.     In  the  fields  there  was  an 


60 


A  bra //a  m  L  incohi 


endless  round  of  plowing,  and  planting,  and  sowing,  and 
reaping,  and  gathering.  And  in  all  this  labor  Abraham 
bore  a  part.  He  did  not  like  to  work,  and  never  found 
pleasure  in  it;  but  he  always  did  his  best,  and  did  it  with- 
out complaining.  He  was  already  old  enough  to  see  that 
labor  was  the  only  means  of  bettering  his  life,  and  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  rise  in  the  world 
as  high  as    he  could. 

In  and  about  the  house  the  mother  and 
daughters  found  no  end  of  duties.     They 
carded   the  wool  and  hackled  the  flax; 
they    spun   and    wove   these   into 
cloth,  which  they  dyed  and  made 
up  into  clothing ;  they 
milked  the  cows,  and 
cared  for  the    chick- 
ens ;    they     churned 
butter     and      boiled 
soap  and   knit  them- 
selves stockings ;  and 
in  time  of  corn  plant- 
ing    or     harvesting, 
they  thought  nothing 
of  putting  on  sunbonnets,  and  helping  the  "  men  folks  " 
in  the  fields.     With  the  new  mother's  bureau  and  chairs, 
the  house  was  more  elegantly  furnished  than  any  other  in 
the  neighborhood ;    and  although  the  brooms  were  made 
of  buckeye  splints  rudely  tied  together,  the  floor  was  always 
a  model  of   cleanliness.      The  cooking  was  done  on  the 
hearth,  or  over    the  blazing   fire.      The   family  ate  from 


Home-made  Cooking  Utensils 


Not  Much  Schooling,  and  yet  a  Little  6i 

pewter  plates,  and  without  forks;  and  they  drank  from  tin 
cups  or  from  the  shells  of  gourds.  And  thus  with  hard 
work  and  homely  fare  the  days  went  by  unnumbered. 


X.     NOT   MUCH   SCHOOLING,   AND   YET   A   LITTLE 

When  Abraham  was  thirteen  years  old,  the  people  in 
the  Pigeon  Creek  settlement  decided  to  build  a  schoolhouse. 
It  would  not  do,  they  said,  to  let  their  children  grow  up 
in  ignorance.  One  morning  in  autumn,  when  the  crops 
had  been  "  laid  by,"  and  there  was  a  lull  in  the 
work  on  the  farms,  all  the  men  met  together  at 
the  crossroads,  where  a  plot  of  ground  had  been  given  for 
school  purposes.  Axes  rang  in  the  woods,  trees  crashed 
to  the  ground,  logs  were  cut  in  proper  lengths  and  laid  one 
above  another  —  and  before  nightfall  the  schoolhouse  was 
finished. 

It  was  much  like  any  other  log  cabin.  The  door  was 
at  one  end;  and  on  either  side  there  was  a  small  square 
window.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  other  end  was  taken  up 
by  the  fireplace  —  a  huge  affair,  built  of  blue  clay  and  flat 
stones.  Benches  made  of  logs  split  in  halves  were  placed 
around  the  inside  of  the  room  for  seats.  A  rude  shelf  was 
put  up  near  the  door  to  serve  as  a  desk,  before  which  the 
few  pupils  who  wished  to  study  writing  could  stand  by 
turns  and  trace  their  copies.  Of  course  there  was  no  floor. 
There  was  no  glass  in  the  windows,  but  it  was  expected 
that  when  the  weather  grew  cold  the  master  would  paste 
a  sheet  of  greased  paper  over  each  opening  —  and  this 
would   serve   just   as  well. 


62  AbraJiam  Littcoln 

The  first  master  was  Azel  Dorsey ;  and  the  boys  and 
girls  from  the  Lincoln  cabin  were  among  the  pupils.  School 
began  at  sunrise  and  was  not  dismissed  until  the  sun  was 
setting.  It  was  scarcely  dayhght  when  the  children  started 
to  school,  for  the  house  was  three  or  four  miles  away,  and 
often  the  stars  were  shining  before  all  were  back  at  the 
home  fireside.  The  master  had  agreed  to  teach  spelling, 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  "  to  the  rule  of  three  ";  but 
only  a  few  of  the  scholars  studied  anything  but  spelling. 

Of  course,  Abraham  Lincoln  stood  at  the  head  of  his 
classes,  not  because  he  could  learn  more  easily  than  his 
schoolmates,  but  because  he  studied  harder.  He  was  the 
only  one  who  saw  that  the  way  to  rise  in  the  world  is  by 
hard  labor  and  by  getting  knowledge.  The  other  boys 
cared  for  nothing  so  much  as  being  good  wrestlers  and  fast 
runners,  hard  hitters  and  straight  throwers.  They  looked 
with  scorn  upon  book-learning,  and  would  have  made  things 
very  unpleasant  for  Abraham  if  he  had  not  shown  them 
that,  with  all  his  love  for  books,  he  could  wrestle  and  run 
and  strike  and  throw  as  well  as  the  best  of  them.  On  the 
fly  leaf  of  an  arithmetic  which  he  used  at  about  this  time, 
one  may  still  read  these  lines  written  by  himself :  — 

"  Abraham  Lincoln, 
His  hand  and  pea; 
He  will  be  good, 

But  God  knows  when.'"' 

Azel  Dorsey's  school  soon  came  to  an  end,  and  it  was 
two  years  before  another  master  was  employed  to  teach  in 
the  little  log  schoolhouse.  But  all  this  while,  Abraham 
was   quietly  teaching   himself    at  home ;    and    it    is   not 


Not  Much   Schooling,  and  yet  a  L  ittle  63 

likely  that  any  backwoods  schoolmaster  could  have  taught 
him  better.  His  father  thought  that  it  was  folly  for  him 
to  learn  anything  more,  and  that  so  much  reading  of 
books  was  a  great  waste  of  time.  But  when  Andrew 
Crawford  at  last  opened  another  school  in  the  little  cabin, 
Mrs.  Lincoln  declared  that  the  six  children  should  attend 
it  —  and  so  they  did. 

It  was  at  this  school  that  Abraham  wrote  his  first  com- 
position of  which  we  have  any  account.  Its  subject  was 
"  Cruelty  to  Animals,"  and  knowing  how  gentle-hearted 
he  was  toward  all  living  creatures,  we  can  easily  guess 
some  of  the  things  he  said. 

The  second  school  was  even  shorter  than  the  first.  The 
settlers  seemed  to  think  that  a  very  little  learning  was  suffi- 
cient, and  so  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  log  schoolhouse 
again  echoed  with  the  voices  of  children  conning  their 
spelling  books. 

When  Abraham  was  nearly  seventeen  years  old,  a  wan- 
dering schoolmaster  whose  name  was  Swaney,  opened  a 
school  in  a  deserted  cabin  four  and  a  half  miles  from  the 
Lincoln  home.  Of  course  young  Lincoln  was  one  of  the 
scholars.  He  was  so  anxious  to  learn,  that  he  thought 
nothing  of  walking  nine  miles  every  day  to  gain  what  little 
he  could  from  a  man  who  knew  far  less  than  himself. 
But  his  father  soon  came  forward  and  declared  that  the 
boy  had  already  had  more  schooling  than  was  good  for 
him,  and  that  he  must  stop  all  such  nonsense  and  go 
to  work.  And  so  Abraham  Lincoln's  school  days  were 
at  an  end.  If  all  had  been  put  together,  they  would  not 
have  made  a  twelvemonth. 


64  AbraJiavi   Liiiro/ii 

XI.     CONNINC,    noOKS    BY    TIILC    FIRELK^IIT 

During  all  this  time  Abraham  Lincoln's  love  of  books 
continued.  He  read  everything  that  he  could  get  hold  of. 
If  he  heard  of  a  book  anywhere  in  the  settlement,  he  could 
not  rest  until  he  had  borrowed  it.  Once  he  walked  bare- 
footed twelve  miles  to  borrow  a  book  containing  the  laws 
of  Indiana.  When  he  was  plowing  in  the  fields,  he  would 
almost  always  have  a  book  with  him  to  read  while  he  gave 
the  horse  a  few  moments'  rest  at  the  end  of  the  row. 

His  father  was  not  in  favor  of  so  much  reading.  He 
thought  that  it  unfitted  the  boy  for  his  work  and  made  him 
lazy,  but  the  good  mother  pleaded  in  his  behalf,  and  begged 
that  he  should  be  allowed  to  have  his  own  way.  "  He  was 
always  a  dutiful  son  to  me,"  she  afterward  said,  "and  we 
took  pains  when  he  was  reading  not  to  disturb  him.  We 
would  let  him  read  on  and  on  till  he  quit  of  his  own 
accord." 

He  would  sit  by  the  fireplace  at  night  and  read  as  long 
as  the  fire  lasted.  Often  he  would  have  a  pile  of  hickory 
bark  at  his  side  which  he  would  throw  in,  piece  by  piece, 
as  the  flames  died  down.  In  the  Pigeon  Creek  settlement 
a  candle  was  a  luxury  which  common  people  could  not 
think  of  using  save  on  special  occasions. 

Whenever  Abraham  found  anything  in  his  reading  which 
seemed  to  be  too  good  to  be  forgotten,  he  would  take  note 
of  it  in  whatever  way  he  could.  If  he  had  no  paper,  he 
would  write  with  charcoal,  or  with  a  piece  of  red  "  keel," 
on  the  side  of  a  smooth  board.  The  logs  in  the  chimney 
corner  were  covered  with  his  rude  notes.     When  he  had 


Connijig  Books  by  the  Firelight  65 

learned  his  notes  by  heart,  he  would  rub  them  out  to  give 
place  for  others. 

Paper  was  a  rare  article,  and  every  piece  that  he  could 
get  was  kept  with  great  care.  He  made  ink  from  poke 
berries,  or  walnut  hulls,  or  the  sap  of  brier  roots.  His 
pens  were  of  goose  quills  and  turkey  quills,  and  no  one 
in  those  times  had  better.  Some  pages  of  his  exercise 
books,  filled  with  figures  and  examples  in  arithmetic, 
have  been  found  and  may  still  be  seen. 

One  autumn  he  heard  that  a  settler  whose  name  was 
Josiah  Crawford  owned  a  book  about  the  first  President 
of  the  United  States.  He  set  out  at  once  to  borrow  it. 
Mr.  Crawford  very  kindly  allowed  him  to  take  it,  telling 
him  to  be  careful  not  to  soil  it.  The  lad  no  sooner  turned 
his  face  homeward  than  he  opened  the  book  and  began  to 
read.  It  was  Weems's  "  Life  of  Washington,"  and  to  him 
it  seemed  a  wonderful  story,  filling  his  heart  with  noble 
thoughts  and  with  aspirations  higher  than  he  had  ever  felt 
before. 

Walking  slowly  homeward,  he  read  until  darkness  over- 
took him.  After  supper,  in  his  corner  by  the  fire,  he 
read  until  the  last  log  of  wood  had  been  burned  to  ashes 
and  there  was  no  longer  the  slightest  flame  flickering  upon 
the  hearth.  It  must  have  been  past  midnight  when  he 
crept  up  the  ladder  to  his  bed  in  the  loft.  He  carried  the 
book  with  him,  and  laid  it  in  a  crack  between  two  logs  so 
that,  at  the  earliest  peep  of  day,  he  could  take  it  and 
resume  his  reading  while  still  lying  in  bed. 

In  the  morning  he  was  awakened  by  the  sound  of  rain 
pattering  on  the  roof  over  his  head.     He  reached  out  and 

LINCOLN  —  5 


66  Abraham  Lincoln 

took  the  book,  but  was  dismayed  to  find  that  it  was  soaked 
with  the  rain.  The  back  was  ready  to  drop  off,  and  the 
leaves  were  stuck  together.  He  hurried  down,  built  a  fire, 
and  dried  the  volume  so  that  he  could  finish  the  reading  of 
it  —  but,  do  whatever  he  could,  it  would  never  look  like 
the  same  book. 

After  breakfast  he  carried  it  back  to  its  owner  and  ex- 
plained what  had  happened. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  he  said,  "  and  I  am  willing  to  do 
anything  that  I  can  to  make  it  right  with  you." 

Mr.  Crawford  said  that  the  book  was  worth  about 
seventy-five  cents,  and  that  if  Abraham  would  work  three 
days  for  him  he  would  be  satisfied. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  the  three  days'  work  will  pay  you 
for  the  book,"  asked  the  boy,  "or  will  it  only  pay  for  the 
damage  done  to  it }  " 

"  I  mean  that  you  may  have  the  book,"  said  Mr.  Craw- 
ford.    "  It  will  be  of  no  further  use  to  me." 

And  so,  for  three  days,  Abraham  husked  corn  and 
stripped  fodder,  and  then  proudly  carried  the  book  home 
again.  It  was  his  own,  —  the  first  thing  he  had  ever 
bought  directly  with  his  own  labor.  He  read  tht:  volume 
again  and  again. 

In  the  clearings  and  the  fields  he  thought  of  the  won- 
derful career  of  Washington  —  the  greatest  of  American 
heroes  —  and  he  was  strengthened  in  his  resolution  to  live 
a  manly  life  and  to  do  his  best  at  all  times.  Might  not  he 
too  be  a  patriot  and  hero  .■'  Although  he  might  never  be 
President,  he  certainly  could  make  himself  worthy  of  that 
great  honor. 


Oratory  at  a  Country  Court  6/ 

XII.  ORATORY  AT  A  COUNTRY  COURT 

Young  Lincoln  was  now  more  than  ever  determined  to 
gain  for  himself  a  good  education.  It  was  hard  for  him  to 
learn  ;  he  could  not  go  to  school ;  he  had  but  few  books  ; 
there  was  no  person  who  could  help  him:  but  in  spite 
of  all  such  difficulties,  he  kept  steadily  on,  doing  his  best 
every  day,  and  learning  whatever  he  could.  He  studied 
hard  and  did  everything  thoroughly  ;  and  so  you  need  not 
wonder  if  he  learned  more  than  some  boys  do  nowadays 
who  have  every  opportunity  and  yet  are  lazy  and  careless. 

About  the  time  that  his  father  took  him  from  Master 
Swaney's  school,  a  book  on  elementary  surveying  came 
into  his  hands.  He  at  once  set  himself  to  learn  the 
principles  of  the  science,  and  —  perhaps  because  he  knew 
that  George  Washington  had  once  measured  land  —  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  dreamed  of  becoming  a  surveyor. 

I  have  already  told  you  how,  when  he  was  but  a  little 
child,  he  delighted  to  imitate  the  wandering  preachers  who 
came  into  the  Knob  Creek  settlement.  As  he  grew  older 
he  still  cherished  the  ambition  to  become  a  public  speaker. 
Few  thliigs  pleased  him  better  than  to  stand  on  a  stump 
or  a  log  and,  with  the  other  five  children  as  Hsteners, 
deliver  a  funny  speech  on  some  subject  of  common  interest. 
As  he  was  always  greeted  with  applause,  he  became 
bolder  and  would  sometimes  practice  speaking  before  a 
crowd  of  country  people  at  the  village  store.  In  harvest 
time  his  father  forbade  his  speech-making  in  the  fields, 
"  for  when  Abe  begins  to  speak,"  he  said,  "  all  the  hands 
stop  work  and  listen." 


68  Abraham  Lincoln 

He  was  nearly  eighteen  years  old  when  he  walked  bare- 
footed to  Boonville,  fifteen  miles  away,  to  attend  a  murder 
trial  that  was  being  held  there.  It  was  his  first  visit  to 
any  court  of  justice,  and  the  first  time  that  he  saw  lawyers 
at  their  work.  He  was  filled  with  admiration  for  the  judge, 
who  seemed  to  him  the  greatest  and  wisest  of  living  men. 
He  listened  with  intense  interest  to  all  that  was  going  on ; 
and  when  one  of  the  lawyers  arose  and  made  a  speech 
in  defense  of  the  prisoner,  he  was  delighted  beyond 
measure. 

The  lawyer's  name  was  Breckenridge,  and  he  was  from 
Kentucky.  When  he  had  finished  speaking,  Abraham 
Lincoln  could  no  longer  hold  himself.  He  rose  from  his 
seat,  pushed  his  way  across  the  courtroom,  and  held  out 
his  hand  to  the  astonished  lawyer.  "  That  was  the  best 
speech  I  ever  heard,"  he  said. 

It  was  a  strange  scene.  The  gawky  youth,  nearly  six 
feet  four  inches  in  height,  stood  with  outstretched  hand, 
forgetful  of  everything  but  the  wonderful  speech.  Dressed 
in  a  suit  of  buckskin,  with  no  shoes  on  his  feet,  and  a  coon- 
skin  cap  on  his  head,  he  never  thought  of  the  inequality 
between  himself  and  the  young  lawyer  in  broadcloth  and 
fine  linen.  But  Mr.  Breckenridge,  with  a  sneer  on  his 
face,  turned  away  and  took  no  further  notice  of  his 
admirer.  Young  Lincoln,  unused  as  he  was  to  the  ways 
of  the  world,  felt  this  rebuff  keenly.  It  was  his  first  ex- 
perience of  the  inequalities  of  society.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  he  had  met  any  one  who  looked  down  upon  him 
as  an  inferior.  I  doubt  not  that  he  then  and  there  resolved 
to  win  his  way  to  such  a  position  that  some  day  even  Mr. 


Oratory  at  a  Country  Cotirt  69 

Breckenridge  would  be  glad  to  take  his  hand.  Many 
years  afterward  the  two  men  met  again  ;  and  Mr.  Lincoln, 
who  was  then  the  greatest  man  in  our  country,  reminded 
Mr.  Breckenridge  of  this  scene  in  the  courtroom  —  a  scene 
which  the  proud  Kentuckian  had  forgotten,  but  which  the 
humble  backwoodsman  could  not  forget. 

After  this  visit  to  Boonville,  Abraham's  mind  was 
wholly  bent  upon  being  a  lawyer.  He  did  not  expect  to 
become  a  lawyer  at  once,  or  indeed  without  much  study 
and  labor.  He  would  do  whatever  came  to  his  hand,  and 
he  would  do  it  well;  he  would  be  anything  that  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  be,  and  he  would  not  give  way  to 
impatience  or  despair ;  but  the  end  which  he  kept  steadily 
in  view  was  a  career  of  honor  and  usefulness  in  the  practice 
of  law.  Although  he  could  not  help  but  dishke  the  hard 
work  on  the  farm,  yet  he  took  pains  to  learn  how  to  do 
everything  there  in  the  best  possible  way. 

He  had  grown  to  be  very  tall,  and  his  strength  was  some- 
thing wonderful.  He  couid  outlift,  outchop,  and  outwrestle 
any  man  in  the  settlement.  And  best  of  all,  he  was  known 
among  his  acquaintances  as  being  kind-hearted,  brave, 
and  honest  to  a  degree  that  was  not  common  among  boys 
in  any  community. 

XIII.     LINCOLN   THE   BOATMAN 

Thomas  Lincoln  thought  that  a  boy  who  was  so  big  and 
active  ought  to  be  earning  some  money.  And  so  in  the 
fall,  when  the  crops  had  been  cared  for  and  there  was  not 
much  to  be  done  on  the  farm,  he  sent  Abraham  down  to 


yo  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  Ohio  River,  and  hired  him  out  as  ferry  boy  to  a  man 
whose  name  was  James  Taylor.  The  lad  was  put  in  charge 
of  a  fiat-bottomed  rowboat,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  carry 
passengers  across  the  river,  between  the  Indiana  and  Ken- 
tucky shores.  For  this  work  it  was  agreed  that  he  should 
have  his  board,  and  his  father  should  receive  two  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  a  week. 

Abraham  Lincoln  now  gained  much  knowledge  of  the 
world  that  was  new  to  him.  He  had  never  studied  geog- 
raphy, and  his  ideas  about  the  extent  of  our  country  were 
not  very  clear.  He  saw  the  steamboats  passing  up  the 
river  to  Cincinnati  or  Pittsburg,  and  down  toward  St. 
Louis  or  New  Orleans.  But  he  had  never  seen  a  city,  and 
the  accounts  which  he  heard  of  these  places  seemed  to  him 
Hke  fairy  tales. 

There  were  but  few  travelers  to  be  ferried  across  the 
river,  and  so,  on  some  days  there  was  not  much  to  be  done. 
At  such  times  it  was  pleasant,  in  the  warm  autumn  weather, 
to  lie  on  the  bank  and  watch  the  "flatboats  and  other  craft 
go  floating  down  the  stream.  But  young  Lincoln  was  not 
satisfied  to  waste  his  time  in  idleness.  Judge  Pitcher,  who 
lived  near  the  landing,  was  the  owner  of  a  shelfful  of  books. 
While  waiting  for  passengers,  the  ferry  boy  often  ran  into 
the  judge's  office  to  look  at  these  books;  and  the  judge, 
seeing  how  fond  he  was  of  reading,  kindly  allowed  him  to 
take  down  and  peruse  as  many  as  he  chose. 

Sometimes  the  boy  would  amuse  himself  by  writing  on 
paper  his  thoughts  about  certain  subjects.  One  of  the  com- 
positions thus  written  was  on  temperance.  When  Judge 
Pitcher  read  it,  he  was  so  pleased  with  the  good  sense  of  it 


Lincoln  the  Boatman  71 

all  that  he  handed  it  to  a  preacher  who  sent  it  to  Ohio, 
where  it  was  published  in  a  paper.  Another  of  young 
Lincoln's  essays  was  on  "  National  Politics."  It  is  not 
likely  that  at  this  time  he  had  ever  seen  a  newspaper,  and 
so  it  seems  strange  that  he  could  know  anything  about 
politics.  But  the  essay  was  so  well  written  and  displayed 
so  much  knowledge  of  the  subject  that  a  lawyer  to  whom 
it  was  shown  declared  "  the  world  couldn't  beat  it." 

Abraham's  service  as  a  ferry  boy  did  not  continue  long. 
Winter  came,  ice  formed  in  the  river,  and  there  were  so 
few  travelers  that  the  boat  was  hauled  up  on  the  shore  and 
the  ferry  stopped  business.  The  lad  went  cheerfully  back 
to  Pigeon  Creek,  carrying  to  his  father  the  money  which 
he  had  earned.  The  world  seemed  a  great  deal  larger  to 
him  now  than  ever  before,  and  he  longed  for  the  time  to 
come  when  he  could  go  out  and  see  what  was  taking  place 
in  its  busy  marts. 

These  thoughts  led  him  to  form  a  project  for  building  a 
flatboat  and  taking  the  farm  produce  to  the  river  where 
it  might  be  sold  for  a  good  price.  All  that  winter  he  was 
busy  thinking  and  working,  cutting  timber  for  his  boat  and 
putting  the  pieces  together.  His  father  was  easily  per- 
suaded that  something  might  be  made  out  of  the  venture ; 
but  his  mother  shook  her  head,  and  was  unwilHng  to  let 
the  lad  leave  home.  When  the  spring  rains  finally  came, 
and  Little  Pigeon  Creek  was  overflowing  its  banks,  Abra- 
ham launched  his  boat  upon  the  stream  and,  having  at  last 
gotten  his  mother's  leave,  made  a  trial  trip  to  the  Ohio. 

The  little  craft  was  stanch  enough  so  long  as  it  was 
floating  in  the  narrow  channel  of  the  creek ;  but  when  it 


72  Abraham  Lincoln 

came  out  upon  the  rolling  waters  of  the  great  river  it 
seemed  very  frail  indeed.  Young  Lincoln  dared  not  ven- 
ture far  into  the  stream.  He  moored  his  boat  to  the  shore, 
and  began  to  study  whether  there  was  any  way  by  which 
to  make  it  stronger  and  safer.  Two  strangers  with  their 
trunks  were  on  the  landing,  waiting  for  a  steamboat  that 
was  coming  down  the  river.  The  steamboat  would  not 
come  to  the  shore,  for  there  was  no  wharf.  But  if  there 
were  any  passengers  to  be  taken  on,  she  would  stop  in 
midstream  and  wait  for  them  to  be  rowed  out  to  her. 

The  two  strangers  looked  at  the  different  boats  that 
were  moored  by  the  landing,  and  at  last  came  to  young 
Lincoln's.  They  seemed  to  like  the  stout  new  vessel,  for 
they  said,  "  Will  you  take  us  and  our  trunks  out  to  the 
steamer }  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Lincoln ;  for  he  knew  that  with  his 
great  strength  he  could  manage  the  boat  during  that  short 
trip,  and  he  hoped  that  the  men  would  pay  him  at  least  a 
"  fip  "  for  his  trouble. 

The  trunks  were  put  into  the  boat,  the  men  seated  them- 
selves, and  the  tall,  brawny  young  man  soon  sculled  them 
out  to  the  steamer.  He  knew  how  to  handle  his  boat, 
even  in  the  strong  current.  The  men  climbed  into  the 
steamer,  and  their  trunks  were  lifted  upon  the  deck.  The 
pilot  rang  the  bell ;  the  engineer  began  to  put  on  steam  ; 
"  You  have  forgotten  to  pay  me !  "  shouted  Lincoln. 
Then  each  of  the  men  took  a  silver  half-dollar  and  tossed 
it  into  the  little  vessel.  The  engine  puffed,  the  paddle 
wheels  went  round,  and  the  steamer  pushed  on  down  the 
rolling    stream.     The  young    man   could  scarcely  believe 


Neiv  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi  73 

his  senses  when  he  picked  up  the  two  pieces  of  silver.  It 
was  the  first  money  that  he  had  ever  earned  for  himself, 
and  it  seemed  to  him  a  very  great  sum  indeed.  That  he, 
a  poor  lad  from  the  backwoods,  could  earn  so  much  in  so 
short  a  time,  was  almost  too  wonderful  to  believe. 


XIV.     NEW   ORLEANS  AND   THE   MISSISSIPPI 

What  became  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  Httle  flatboat,  and 
why  he  gave  up  his  intended  voyage,  we  do  not  know. 
But  when  next  we  hear  of  him  he  is  engaged  by  Mr. 
Gentry,  the  storekeeper  at  Gentryville,  to  pilot  a  much 
larger  vessel  down  the  river  to  the  markets  of  New 
Orleans.  This  vessel  was  of  the  kind  called  by  the  river 
people  a  "broadhorn."  It  was  wide  and  flat-bottomed, 
with  a  little  caboose  or  shelter  in  the  middle  where  the  men 
could  sleep.  Close  by  the  caboose  there  was  a  hearth  of  clay 
where  they  could  build  a  fire  and  cook  their  meals.  The 
boat  was  loaded  with  pork  and  corn  and  other  products  of 
the  new  country ;  and  young  Lincoln,  who  was  the  cap- 
tain, worked  the  front  oars.  He  was  promised  that  if  he 
made  the  trip  safely,  he  should  receive  money  enough  to 
pay  his  passage  back  on  a  steamboat,  and  his  father 
should  have  two  dollars  for  every  week  he  was  absent. 
His  only  companion  and  helper  was  Allan  Gentry,  his 
employer's  son. 

You  must  know  that  at  this  time  there  were  no  railroads 
in  the  world.  In  the  Western  country  there  were  but  few 
roads  of  any  kind,  and  these  were  mostly  mere  wagon 
tracks   through    the    woods.     To    bring   goods   over    the 


74 


AbraJiam  Lincoln 


mountains  from  the  East  was  a  difficult  and  expensive 
undertaking.  To  send  the  corn  and  wheat  and  pork  of 
the  fertile  West  over  the  same  mountains  to  the  market 
cities  of  New  York  or  Philadelphia  was  a  thing  impossible 
because  of  the  great  cost. 

It  was  only  by  means  of  the  water  courses  that  the 
settlers  could  find  any  market  for  their  surplus  produce. 
And  as  all  the  great  streams  of  that  region  flow  into  the 
Ohio  or  the  Mississippi,  these  two  rivers  became  the  chief 


A  Mississippi  Flatboat 


highways  of  traffic.  New  Orleans,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
latter  stream,  was  the  center  of  trade  for  the  West  and 
South,  and  the  busiest  city  in  the  United  States. 

As  Abraham  Lincoln  guided  Mr.  Gentry's  broadhorn 
down  the  great  waterway  to  New  Orleans,  he  saw  many 
sights  that  were  wholly  new  and  strange  to  him.  There 
was  much  busy  life  on  the  river.  Boats  of  every  kind 
were  floating  down  —  flatboats,  barges,  house  boats,  tim- 
ber rafts —  nearly  all  bound  for  the  same  place.  Steam 
boats  with  loads  of  freight  and  passengers  went  paddling  by, 
sometimes  in  one  direction,  sometimes  in  the  other.  To 
the  young  men  whose  lives  had  been  passed  in  the  quiet  of 


Nczv  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi  75 

the  backwoods  this  bustle  and  movement  must  have  seemed 
very  wonderful  indeed. 

For  hundreds  of  miles  along  the  river  there  were  no 
towns.  Now  and  then  a  lonely  clearing  might  be  seen  on 
the  higher  ground  back  from  the  stream.  Now  and  then 
they  passed  in  sight  of  some  bold  settler's  cabin  half  hid- 
den by  the  underwoods  which  lined  the  banks.  On  their 
left,  near  where  Memphis  now  stands,  they  saw  the  long 
stretch  of  woodland  where  the  Cherokee  Indians  still  had 
their  hunting  ground.  Thousands  of  wild  ducks  and  other 
swimming  birds  flocked  in  the  creeks  and  coves,  and  now 
and  then  the  boatmen  caught  sight  of  timid  deer  running 
among  the  trees  or  seeking  to  hide  themselves  in  the  thick 
underwoods. 

Every  day  the  weather  grew  a  little  warmer.  Every 
day  the  shores  became  a  little  greener.  Trees  and  flowers 
of  kinds  which  the  young  men  had  never  seen  began  to 
appear.  Floating  onward,  they  came,  little  by  little,  into 
what  seemed  to  be  a  new  world.  They  passed  now  and 
then  a  plantation  of  cotton  or  of  sugar  cane,  and  saw  gangs 
of  slaves  working  in  the  fields.  Alligators  basked  in  the 
sun,  or  paddled  lazily  about  in  the  creeks  and  inlets. 
Strange  birds  wheeled  and  screamed  above  them.  Spread- 
ing trees,  with  long  moss  pendent  from  their  branches, 
lined  some  parts  of  the  shore.  They  passed  an  old  town 
called  Natchez,  where  all  the  people  talked  French  —  for 
it  must  be  remembered  that  Louisiana  was  first  settled  by 
pioneers  from  France.  At  last,  after  many  adventures 
they  reached  the  busy  wharves  of  New  Orleans,  and  were 
at  the  end  of  their  voyage. 


'J^  AhraJiam  Lincoln 

It  would  be  interesting  to  follow  young  Lincoln  about 
the  streets  of  the  city  and  to  know  what  he  thought  of  the 
strange  sights  that  were  everywhere  presented.  Here 
were  people  of  all  classes  and  of  many  nations :  mer- 
chants, sailors,  planters,  slaves;  backwoodsmen  like  him- 
self ;  hunters  and  trappers  from  the  far  Northwest ;  and 
ship  captains  from  beyond  the  sea.  Here,  too,  were  all 
kinds  of  merchandise.  The  wharves  were  lined  with 
steamboats  and  other  river  craft.  Sailing  vessels  from 
ocean  ports  were  anchored  in  the  stream.  Indeed,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  whole  wonderful  world  had  been  brought 
together  in  this  great  market  place. 

But  the  two  young  men  did  not  stay  long  among  these 
interesting  scenes.  They  had  come  to  New  Orleans  on 
business  and  not  for  pleasure.  It  took  only  a  few  hours 
to  sell  their  little  cargo  of  pork  and  corn.  Then  they  dis- 
posed of  their  flatboat,  which  had  been  made  to  float  only 
with  the  stream,  and  was  now  good  for  nothing  but  fire- 
wood ;  and,  without  losing  more  time  than  necessary,  they 
embarked  on  an  up-river  steamboat  and  were  soon  voyag- 
ing homeward  at  a  rate  which  was  then  thought  to  be  very 
rapid  indeed. 

When,  at  last,  the  young  men  again  set  foot  in  Indiana, 
they  had  many  wonderful  stories  to  tell  of  their  adven- 
tures ;  and  when  they  paid  to  Mr.  Gentry  the  money 
which  they  had  gotten  for  his  goods,  they  were  made 
happy  by  his  saying  that  no  man  could  have  managed 
the  business  better. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  now  nineteen  years  old.  After 
having  seen  so  much  of  the  world,  he  began  to  tire  of  the 


A   Trial  of  New  Fortunes  jy 

dull  round  of  life  at  Pigeon  Creek.  He  had  done  a  great 
deal  of  hard  work,  for  a  boy  of  his  age,  and  yet  his  father 
had  claimed  all  his  earnings.  He  had  never  had  but  one 
dollar  that  he  could  call  his  own.  Was  it  not  time  that 
he  should  be  doing  something  for  himself  .-*  The  captain 
of  an  Ohio  steamboat  offered  to  hire  him  as  a  deck  hand. 
The  money  would  be  his  own.  He  would  see  still  more  of 
the  world  and  its  busy  people.     Why  not  go .'' 

He  did  not  speak  to  any  one  at  home  about  this  matter ; 
but  went  down  to  the  landing  where  he  had  worked  as 
ferry  boy  to  see  a  friend  whom  he  trusted. 

"  William  Wood,"  said  he,  "  what  ought  I  to  do  .?  Ought 
I  to  strike  out  for  myself,  or  ought  I  to  stay  with  my  father 
and  serve  him,  as  I  have  been  doing,  for  nothing  .-* " 

"Abraham,"  said  William  Wood,  "you  are  only  nine- 
teen years  old.  Your  time  until  you  are  twenty-one  be- 
longs by  right  to  your  father.     Help  your  father." 

And  then  the  young  man  remembered  that  these  were 
the  last  words  of  his  angel  mother :  "  Help  your  father. 
Live  as  I  have  taught  you,  and  love  God  always."  He 
at  once  put  aside  all  thoughts  of  leaving  home.  He  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  would  manfully  do  his  duty,  and  trust 
in  God  for  what  might  follow.  He  went  cheerfully  back 
to  his  home,  and  without  a  word  took  up  his  accustomed 
work  on  the  farm. 

XV.     A  TRIAL   OF    NEW   FORTUNES 

In  February,  1830,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  twenty-one 
years  old.     He  was  now  his  own  master  and  might  go 


78  Abraham.  Lincoln 

where  he  chose.  But  another  great  change  was  about 
to  take  place  in  the  life  of  the  family,  and  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  help  his  father  a  little  longer. 

All  that  winter  letters  had  been  coming  to  Thomas 
Lincoln.  They  were  written  by  Abraham's  cousin,  John 
Hanks,  who  was  living  near  Decatur  in  Illinois.  They 
were  full  of  glowing  accounts  of  that  new  country  in  the 
valley  of  the  Sangamon  River ;  they  told  wonderful  stories 
of  the  great  prairies  and  of  the  wooded  bottom  lands ;  and 
they  ended  always  with  words  of  persuasion :  "  Sell  your 
Indiana  farm  and  come.  Come,  while  you  can  have  your 
choice  of  government  land  at  only  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  an  acre."  At  last,  a  letter  more  urgent  still  was 
received.  John  Hanks  had  chosen  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  the  best  in  all  that  region,  and  would  hold 
it  for  Thomas  Lincoln  if  he  would  be  sure  to  come  in  the 
spring.  More  than  that,  he  would  have  logs  cut  and  hauled 
for  a  cabin,  so  that  the  Lincolns  might  find  a  new  home 
ready  for  them  as  soon  as  they  came. 

Thomas  Lincoln  did  not  need  so  much  persuasion. 
He  was  always  ready  to  move.  If  his  more  cautious  wife 
had  been  as  willing  as  he  to  leave  their  old  home  for  a  new, 
he  would  have  moved  long  before.  It  was  now  more  than 
thirteen  years  since  he  had  settled  on  Pigeon  Creek,  and 
he  was  still  a  poor  man.  Life  in  Illinois  could  not  be 
harder  than  life  in  Indiana :  it  might  be  a  great  deal 
easier.  At  any  rate,  where  land  was  so  rich  and  so  plenti- 
ful and  cheap,  there  would  be  a  better  chance  for  the 
younger  people  who  were  just  beginning  life. 

And  so  at    last,   the  members  of   the    Lincoln   family 


A    Trial  of  New  Fortimes  79 

agreed  to  try  their  fortunes  in  the  new  country  of  "the 
Illinois."  The  farm,  which  was  not  yet  paid  for,  was 
bargained  away,  the  stock  and  crops  were  sold,  and  at  the 
time  of  Abraham's  twenty-first  birthday  everybody  was 
busy  getting  ready  for  the  long,  hard  journey. 

It  was  in  March  when  they  started.  All  the  household 
goods  had  been  packed  into  a  long,  covered  wagon  drawn 
by  four  yoke  of  oxen.  There  were  eight  persons  in  the 
company :  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  wife ;  the  two  step- 
daughters and  their  husbands,  Dennis  Hanks  and  Levi 
Hall;  Mrs.  Lincoln's  son,  John  Johnston;  and  Abraham 
Lincoln.  The  sister,  Sarah  Lincoln,  had  married  Aaron 
Grigsby  some  years  before,  and  was  now  dead. 

Of  course  it  was  not  possible  for  everybody  to  ride  — 
for  the  wagon  was  already  crowded  with  the  beds  and 
cooking  utensils  and  farming  tools ;  and  so  the  five  men 
trudged  along  on  foot,  and  sometimes  the  women  also  found 
it  better  to  walk  than  to  add  their  weight  to  the  heavy 
load.  Abraham  was  the  driver,  and  through  slush  and 
mire,  with  whip  in  hand,  he  strode  by  the  side  of  the  slow- 
moving  team,  encouraging  the  oxen,  sometimes  by  a  word 
and  sometimes  by  a  sharp  touch  of  the  lash. 

The  ground  had  not  yet  fully  thawed  after  the  winter's 
freezing.  The  brooks  were  overflowing,  for  the  spring 
freshets  had  set  in.  The  rivers  were  full  of  floating  ice. 
The  air  was  damp  and  chilly.  Sometimes  the  wagon  sank 
to  the  hubs  in  the  oozy  mire,  and  then  all  hands  had  to 
lay  hold  and  help  the  team  lift  it  out.  At  night  a  camp 
fire  was  built  in  the  woods  or  by  the  roadside,  and  while 
some  slept  in  the  wagon  the  others  lay  on  the  ground  with 


8o  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

their  feet  toward  the  blaze.  One  can  hardly  think  of  a 
harder  or  more  disagreeable  journey.  From  Pigeon  Creek 
to  Decatur,  the  distance  is  less  than  two  hundred  miles ; 
and  yet  the  family  were  two  whole  weeks  on  the  road. 

John  Hanks  gave  them  a  hearty  welcome.  The  logs 
for  the  new  cabin  had  been  cut  and  hauled  according  to 
promise.  For  six  sturdy  men,  accustomed  to  such  work, 
it  was  the  task  of  only  a  few  days  to  roll  these  logs  into 
place,  and  put  a  roof  over  them.  And  so,  long  before 
the  end  of  April,  the  Lincolns  were  snugly  housed  in  their 
new  home  near  the  north  fork  of  the  Sangamon  River. 

At  this  time  Illinois  had  been  a  state  for  nearly  twelve 
years,  for  it  had  come  into  the  Union  only  two  years  later 
than  Indiana.  But  people  had  been  slow  in  going  there, 
and  thousands  of  fertile  acres  still  lay  unclaimed — the  prop- 
erty of  the  United  States  government.  The  first  settlers, 
strange  to  say,  had  shunned  the  prairies  and  made  their 
homes  in  the  woods  and  groves  which  bordered  the 
larger  streams.  They  thought  that  the  treeless  plains 
were,  for  some  reason,  unsuited  for  farming,  and  that  for 
ages  to  come  they  would  be  used  only  for  the  pasturage 
of  herds  and  flocks. 

And  so,  when  Abraham  Lincoln  first  went  to  IMinois, 
the  state  was  but  thinly  settled,  nearly  all  the  inhabitants 
living  in  the  wooded  portions,  or  near  the  rivers.  Most  of 
those  who  occupied  the  southern  and  central  parts  had 
come  from  Kentucky  and  the  neighboring  states  of  the 
South.  Those  who  lived  farther  north  were  chiefly  from 
the  New  England  states  or  New  York.  Among  all  these 
pioneers,  life  was  much  as  we  have  already  seen  it  to  be 


The  Winter  of  tJie  Deep   Snozv  8 1 

ill  Indiana.  There  were  bnt  few  schools  and  fewer 
churches.  The  people  were,  as  a  rule,  rude  and  uncouth 
in  manners,  and  yet  kind-hearted  and  obliging.  They 
seldom  saw  any  money,  and  almost  all  their  buying  and 
selling  was  by  barter.  Each  family  had  to  raise  its  own 
food  and,  generally,  to  make  its  own  clothing.  Everybody 
was  poor ;  and  so  the  Lincolns,  humble  though  they  were, 
found  themselves  no  worse  off  than  their  neighbors.  They 
began  life  in  their  new  home  with  much  hopefulness,  and 
yet  without  any  great  expectations  ;  for  they  had  long  ago 
learned  to  be  content  with  little. 


XVI.     THE    WINTER    OF   THE   DEEP    SNOW 

Before  leaving  home  to  begin  life  for  himself  Abraham 
Lincoln  thought  it  his  duty  to  see  his  father  well  started 
on  his  new  farm.  For  many  days  the  grove  near  the  cabin 
rang  with  the  sound  of  his  ax  and  maul.  He  was  cutting 
down  trees  and  sphtting  the  logs  into  rails.  "  And  how 
he  would  chop!"  said  Dennis  Hanks,  long  afterward. 
"  His  ax  would  flash  and  bite  into  a  sugar  tree  or  syca- 
more, and  down  it  would  come.  If  you  heard  him  felling 
trees,  you  would  think  there  were  three  men  at  work,  they 

came  down  so  fast." 

to 

With  the  rails  he  helped  his  father  build  a  fence  around 
ten  acres  of  prairie  land.  Then  he  yoked  the  oxen  to  a 
plow  and  helped  him  turn  the  sod  and  make  the  field 
ready  for  the  corn  planting.  Everything  seemed  now  to 
be  fairly  under  way,  and  the  young  man  began  to  think  of 
looking  for  work  somewhere  else. 

LINCOLN  —  6 


82 


Abraham  Lincoln 


He  still  wore  the  buckskin  trousers  that  had  been  made 
for  him  before  he  was  grown,  and  they  were  much  too 
short  for  him.  He  had  no  clothing  that  was  fit  to  be 
worn  away  from  home.  He  had  not  a  dollar  with  which 
to  buy  what  he  needed. 

A  few  miles  from  his  father's  cabin  there  lived  a  woman 
whose  name  was  Nancy  Miller.  She  had  a  flock  of  sheep, 
and  a  spinning  wheel,  and  a  loom.  She  was  a  very  busy 
woman  and  wove  more  jeans  and  linsey-woolsey 
than  her  own  family  could  use.  Abraham  heard 
that  she  wanted  some  rails  split  with  which  to 
build  a  fence  around  a  part  of  her  pas- 
ture land.  Here  was  a  chance  for  new 
■'    ^=**^''  clothmg.      He  went  to  see  her, 


l^yr%^.',  and  a  bargain  was  soon  made. 
She  agreed  to  make  him  a 
pair  of  trousers  "of  brown 
jeans  dyed  with  white  wal- 
nut bark "  ;  and  he,  in 
return,  engaged  to  split 
four  hundred  rails,  each  ten 
feet  in  length  and  of  convenient  size,  for  each  yard  of 
jeans  so  used — or  fourteen  hundred  rails  in  all. 

And  so,  what  with  helping  his  father  and  what  with 
doing  odd  jobs  for  the  neighbors,  the  summer  passed  and 
another  winter  came.  It  was  a  winter  long  re- 
membered in  Illinois  —  the  "winter  of  the  deep 
snow."  The  snow  began  falling  on  Christmas  day,  and 
in  a  short  time  it  was  three  feet  deep.  Then  there  came 
a  drizzling  rain  which  froze  as  fast  as  it  fell ;  the  air  grew 


1831 


The  Winter  of  tJic  Deep  Snozv  83 

very  cold  ;  and  the  whole  great  expanse  of  snow  became 
a  thick  sheet  of  ice.  Many  of  the  settlers  perished  in 
the  storm.  To  those  who  lived  through  it,  the  days  that 
followed  were  full  of  distress  and  discomfort.  •  The  deer 
and  other  wild  animals  that  had  hitherto  been  plentiful, 
died  of  starvation ;  or  venturing  too  near  the  homes  of 
men  they  were  easily  captured  in  the  treacherous  snow. 

At  about  the  time  of  the  final  thawing  of  the  deep  snow, 
Abraham  Lincoln  made  the  acquaintance  of  an  adventur- 
ous young  man  whose  name  was  Denton  Offut.  Mr. 
Offut  was  buying  produce  to  send  to  New  Orleans  on  a 
flatboat,  and  when  he  learned  that  young  Lincoln  had 
already  made  one  trip  down  the  river,  he  was  anxious  to 
engage  him  as  a  helper.  As  Abraham  had  nothing  else 
to  do,  a  bargain  was  soon  made.  The  crew  consisted  of 
Lincoln,  his  cousin  John  Hanks,  and  his  stepbrother  John 
Johnston,  while  Offut  himself  went  along  as  captain.  Each 
of  the  young  men  was  to  receive  fifty  cents  a  day,  and  if 
the  venture  proved  to  be  a  profitable  one,  he  was  in  the  end 
to  be  given  a  bonus  of  twenty  dollars. 

Of  that  second  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  River  little 
need  be  said.  Everything  seems  to  have  prospered  with 
the  little  company ;  they  reached  New  Orleans  in  safety, 
and  the  produce  was  sold  at  a  good  profit.  While  wait- 
ing for  the  steamboat  which  was  to  carry  them  homeward, 
the  young  men  had  time  to  see  a  good  deal  of  the  great 
Southern  city.  They  visited  the  French  quarters  and  also 
the  section  that  had  been  settled  by  the  Spanish.  They 
spent  many  hours  among  the  shipping  and  in  the  great 
markets.     They  saw  negro  slaves  at  work  everywhere. 


84 


Abraham  Lincoln 


One  day  they  attended  a  slave  auction  where  a  number 
of  negroes  were  offered  for  sale,  like  so  many  cattle  or 
other  dumb  beasts.  The  sight  made  a  strong  impression 
upon  the  kind-hearted  Lincoln.     To  see  men  and  women 


^5 


'I 


Thomas  Lincoln's  House  in  Coles  County 

chained  in  gangs,  whipped,  and  otherwise  cruelly  treated, 
touched  his  tender  heart.  John  Hanks  long  afterward 
said  :  "  It  was  on  this  trip  that  Lincoln  formed  his  opinion 
of  slavery.  It  run  its  iron  in  him  then  and  there,  May, 
183 1.      I  have  heard  him  say  so  often." 

The    young   men   did    not   stay   long  in    New   Orleans. 
They  took  passage  on  the  first  steamboat  that  was  bound 


Riinning  a    VilliXgc  Store  85 

up  the  river,  and  in  a  few  days  landed  in  St.  Louis.  Here 
Abraham  Lincohi  and  his  stepbrother  took  their  leave  of 
Mr.  Offut  and  started  homeward  across  the  wild  prairie 
lands  of  Illinois.  They  walked  all  the  way  to  Coles 
County  where  Thomas  Lincoln  was  then  living.  For  the 
uneasy  man  had  not  been  pleased  with  the  land  which 
John  Hanks  had  chosen  for  him  in  the  valley  of  the 
Sangamon,  and  so,  before  a  year  had  passed,  had  left  it 
and  moved  again. 


XVII.     RUNNING   A   VILLAGE   STORE 

Toward  the  end  of  that  same  summer,  Mr.  Offut  set 
up  a  little  store  in  the  town  of  New  Salem,  and  sent 
for  young  Lincoln  to  come  and  be  his  salesman.  New 
Salem  was  a  very  small  place.  It  stood  near  the  Sanga- 
mon River,  about  twelve  miles  below  Springfield.  If  you 
should  look  for  it  on  the  maps  in  your  school  geography, 
you  would  not  find  it ;  for  its  life  as  a  town  was  very  brief, 
and  there  is  now  not  a  single  house  to  show  that  it  ever 
had  existence.  In  place  of  streets  and  dwellings,  one  sees 
an  open  field  and  the  sloping  river  bank  overgrown  with 
weeds  and  bushes.  In  1831,  however,  a  mill  was  there, 
and  near  it  was  a  cluster  of  small  houses.  People  were 
moving  in  and  building,  and  everybody  thought  it  was  just 
the  place  for  a  thriving  town.  Indeed,  being  close  to  the 
river  where  water  power  could  be  had,  it  had  more  natural 
advantages  than  Springfield  which  was  then  in  the  open 
prairie  with  only  a  small  stream  called  Spring  Creek 
flowing  through   it.      New  Salem   was   thought   to   be  a 


S6  AbraJ:ain  Lincoln 

good  place  for  a  store,  and  Mr.  Offut  perhaps  never 
showed  better  judgment  than  when  he  placed  his  business 
there  in  charge  of  young  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  store  soon  became  a  place  of  much  interest  to 
everybody  in  the  neighberhood.  The  men,  while  waiting 
for  their  corn  to  be  ground  at  the  mill,  gathered  there  to 
talk  about  cattle  and  crops  and  the  weather.  The  women 
came  to  buy  needles  and  thread  and  cheap  calico.  They 
seldom  had  any  money,  and  so  they  paid  for  their  goods 
with  the  butter  and  eggs  that  were  not  needed  for  the 
table  at  home. 

The  tall,  ungainly  "  clerk  "  who  had  charge  of  the  store 
did  not  have  many  of  the  graces  of  a  gentleman,  as  they 
are  commonly  thought  to  be ;  for  in  the  backwoods  the 
ordinary  forms  of  politeness  were  but  little  known.  But, 
awkward  as  he  was,  the  kindness  of  his  heart  was  shown 
in  his  pleasant  manners  to  all,  and  he  Svjon  had  many 
friends.  He  was  so  truthful  and  trustworthy  that  the 
rough  settlers  gave  him  the  nickname  of  "  Honest  Abe  " 
—  a  title  which  he  kept  until  the  end  of  his  life. 

Many  stories  are  told  of  the  way  in  which  he  distin- 
guished himself  during  that  year  in  the  little  town  of 
Salem.  He  was  the  peacemaker  of  the  neighborhood. 
Quarrels  very  often  arose  among  the  rude  fellows  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  gathering  at  the  store ;  and  these 
would  sometimes  have  ended  in  bloodshed  had  it  not  been 
for  young  Lincoln's  friendly  interference.  He  was  brave 
and  strong,  and  everybody  respected  him  because  he  was 
always  on  the  side  of  right  and  justice.  And  so  he  could 
stop  a  fight  and  make  old  enemies  forget  their  anger  when 


Running  a    Village  Store  87 

no  other  man  would  have  been  Hstened  to  for  a  moment. 
Twice,  at  least,  he  was  forced  to  defend  himself  against 
young  bullies  who  were  anxious  to  try  his  mettle.  But 
when  he  had  punished  them  as  they  deserved,  he  at  once 
made  friends  with  them  and  showed  them  that  he  bore 
them  no  ill-will.  He  had  none  of  the  bad  habits  that  were 
so  common  among  the  young  men  in  the  new  settlements. 
He  did  not  use  tobacco,  or  drink  strong  liquor,  or  bet  on 
cards,  or  impose  upon  the  weak  and  helpless,  or  quarrel 
with  those  who  tried  to  wrong  him.  But  he  was  in  every 
way  a  manly  young  man,  and  withal  so  just  and  true  that 
both  the  rude  and  the  gentle  respected  and  loved  him. 

I  have  said  that  there  was  not  much  money  in  the 
West  at  that  time.  There  were  households  where  hardly 
so  much  as  a  dollar  was  seen  in  a  whole  year.  When 
anything  was  bought  at  the  store,  it  was  paid  for  in  some 
kind  of  produce  —  it  might  be  in  corn,  or  wool,  or  goose 
feathers,  or  butter,  or  eggs,  or  live  fowls,  or  smoked  meat, 
or  any  other  of  the  many  things  that  could  be  spared  from 
the  farm.  The  little  money  that  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  was  not  much  like  that  which  we  see  nowadays. 
Nearly  all  the  silver  pieces  were  of  Spanish  coinage.  One 
of  the  most  common  of  these  was  the  Spanish  half  real, 
which  the  settlers  called  a  "fip,"^  and  which  was  worth 
about  six  cents.  Another  piece,  worth  twice  as  much, 
was  called  a      levy."^ 

One  day  a  customer  came  into  Mr.  Offut's  store  and 
bought  some  goods  for  which  he  paid  cash.     After  he 

^  Short  for  "  fippenny  bit,"  or  fivcpencc. 

^  Short  for  eleven  pence,  "  eleven  penny  bit," 


88  Abnihavi  Lincoln 

had  gone  home,  young  Lincoln  noticed  that  a  mistake 
had  been  made  and  that  the  customer  had  given  him  a 
fip  too  much.  All  day  long  that  little  silver  piece  was 
in  his  thoughts ;  and  as  soon  as  he  could  close  the  store 
in  the  evening,  he  started  off  on  a  walk  of  several  miles 
across  the  prairie,  to  restore  the  coin  to  its  rightful  owner. 
At  another  time  when  he  was  just  closing  the  store  for 
the  night  a  woman  came  in  to  buy  a  half  pound  of  tea. 
He  had  already  blown  out  the  candle,  and  rather  than 
relight  it,  he  felt  around  in  the  darKness  and  weighed 
the  tea  without  seeing  it.  The  next  morning  when  he 
came  to  the  store  he  saw  by  the  weight  which  was  still 
in  the  scale  that  he  had  given  the  woman  only  half  enough. 
He  could  not  rest  until  he  had  weighed  out  the  remaining 
quarter  of  a  pound  and  carried  it  to  her. 

While  working  for  Mr.  Offut  he  did  not  neglect  the 
studies  which  he  felt  would  sometime  be  of  use  to  him. 
He  had  heard  that  in  order  to  speak  and  write  correctly, 
one  should  understand  the  rules  of  grammar.  He  had 
never  seen  a  text-book  on  Enghsh  grammar,  and  he  asked 
the  schoolmaster  at  New  Salem  if  he  knew  where  such  a 
book  could  be  obtained. 

"There  is  a  man  halfway  between  here  and  Springfield 
who  used  to  teach  school  down  East,"  was  the  answer. 
"  He  has  an  old  copy  of  Kirkham's  Grammar,  and  I  am 
sure  that  he  would  lend  it  to  you." 

"  But  do  you  think  that  I  could  understand  it  without 
the  help  of  a  teacher  .>'" 

"  I  am  quite  sure  that  you  can.  With  hard  study  and  a 
good  memory  any  one  can  learn  all  the  rules  in  it  " 


up  in  Black  IJaivk's  Country  89 

"Well,  I  think  I  have  a  good  memory,  and  I  guess  1 
can  study  pretty  hard,"  said  Lincoln;  "and  so  I  will  see 
what  I  can  do." 

That  very  night  he  set  out  to  borrow  the  book,  and  after 
a  walk  of  twelve  miles  returned  with  it  under  his  arm. 
For  several  days  he  kept  it  close  by  him,  and  whenever 
there  was  a  leisure  moment  he  was  studying  from  its  pages. 
In  a  short  time  he  had  learned  all  the  rules  by  heart,  but 
he  found  that  he  still  made  mistakes  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage. It  was  only  by  taking  great  pains  with  his  speech, 
and  by  trying  very  hard  all  the  time,  that  he  was  at  last 
able  to  avoid  most  of  these  errors  and  to  use  really  good 
English  both  in  talking  and  in  writing. 

Mr.  Offut  did  not  prove  to  be  a  successful  business  man. 
He  undertook  too  many  ventures,  and  lost  money.  In  a 
few  months  the  store  at  New  Salem  had  to  be  closed,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  again  looking  for  employment. 

XVIII.     UP    IN    BLACK    HAWK'S    COUNTRY 

In  the  valley  of  the  Rock  River  in  northern  Illinois 
there  once  lived  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  the  Sacs.  Their 
neighbors  and  kinsfolk  were  the  Fox  Indians;  and  all  had 
lived  so  long  in  that  beautiful  region  that  they  had  come 
to  love  it  just  as  we,  who  think  ourselves  more  civilized, 
love  the  land  of  our  birth.^  But  there  were  white  people 
who  saw  that  the  hunting  grounds  and  cornfields  of  these 
Indians  included  some  of  the  richest  farming  lands  in  the 
world.  "What  a  pity,"  they  said,  "that  such  fine  lands 
should  remain  in  the  [possession  of  savages!" 


90  AbraJiam  Lincohi 

The  Indians  did  not  want  to  part  with  their  lands,  but 
they  were  so  hard  pressed  by  the  white  men  that  they 
could  not  long  resist.  Finally  some  of  the  braves,  while 
half-drunk  with  strong  liquor,  were  persuaded  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  United  States,  agreeing  to  give  up  their 
old  hunting  grounds  in  exchange  for  a  reservation  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Mississippi.  Many  of  the  people  were 
unwilling  to  leave  their  homes,  and  it  was  not  until  force 
was  threatened,  that  all  were  persuaded  to  remove  across 
the  river. 

One  of  the  leading  men  among  the  Sacs  was  a  brave 
warrior  called  Black  Hawk.  He  was  then  more  than  sixty 
years  old,  and  he  had  always  been  opposed  to  selling  the 
lands.  He  said  that  the  braves  did  not  know  what  they 
were  doing  when  they  made  the  treaty,  and  that  it  was  not 
right  for  the  whites  to  take  advantage  of  them.  He  was 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  new  home  to  which  his  people 

had  been  removed,  and  his  heart  was  filled  with 
18^2 

bitterness  because  of  the  wrongs  they  had  suf- 
fered. After  remaining  quiet  for  some  months,  he  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and 
recrossed  the  Mississippi.  When  asked  what  he  meant 
to  do,  he  answered,  "  We  are  going  into  the  Rock  River 
valley  to  plant  corn  in  the  fields  that  are  still  our  own." 
Some  of  his  followers  were  hard  to  control.  They  scat- 
tered here  and  there,  burning  farmhouses  and  killing 
the  white  people  that  came  in  their  way.  There  was  a 
company  of  United  States  troops  at  Rock  Island,  but  they 
were  too  few  to  fight  against  so  large  a  force  of  savages. 
The  whole  state  was  alarmed,  and  the  governor  hastened 


up  in  Black  Hazvk's  Country  9 1 

to   call  for  volunteers  to  help  drive  the  Indians  back  to 
their  own  place. 

It  was  only  a  few  days  after  the  closing  of  Mr.  Offut's 
store  that  the  governor's  call  was  made  public ;  and  Abra- 
ham' Lincoln,  having  nothmg  else  to  do,  enlisted  at  once. 
Several  other  young  men  in  the  neighborhood  also  volun- 
teered, and  a  company  was  formed. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  do,  after  they  had  come  to- 
gether, was  to  elect  officers.  There  were  two  candidates 
for  captain,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  an  older  man  whose  name 
was  Kirkpatrick.  The  word  was  passed  round  :  "  Let  all 
who  want  Lincoln  for  captain  follow  him  to  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  road  ;  and  let  all  who  would  rather  have  Kirk- 
patrick stand  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  road." 

It  was  an  odd  kind  of  election ;  but  when  all  had  taken 
their  stand  it  was  found  that  there  were  twice  as  many 
men  on  Lincoln's  side  as  on  Kirkpatrick's.  This  was  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  first  success  in  public  life.  Thirty  years 
later,  when  he  was  President  of  the  United  States,  he  was 
heard  to  say  that  no  other  victory  of  his  life  had  ever 
brought  with  it  so  much  satisfaction. 

Captain  Lincoln  and  his  company  marched  across  the 
state  toward  the  place  where  the  Indians  were  making 
trouble.  They  were  ordered  into  camp  on  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  there  they  remained,  waiting  for  a 
boat  that  was  to  carry  them  up  the  river.  The  young  men 
who  had  thus  come  together  from  the  groves  and  prairie 
farms  were  an  uncouth  set  of  fellows,  very  rough  and  rude 
and  hard  to  control :  and  Captain  Lincoln  had  enough  to 
do  to  keep  them  in  any  kind  of  order.    He  took  part  in 


92  Ahra/iam  Lincoln 

their  games,  and  won  their  respect  by  being  the  hardest 
hitter  and  with  one  exception  the  best  wrestler  in  the 
company. 

One  day  a  poor,  half-starved  Indian  came  into  the  camp. 
He  had  with  him  a  letter  from  General  Cass,  saying  that 
he  was  friendly  to  the  whites  and  could  be  trusted.  But 
he  did  not  show  the  letter  at  first.  The  soldiers  ran 
toward  him. 

"  Kill  the  Indian  !  "  they  cried.     "  He  is  a  spy." 

Then  the  Indian  held  up  his  letter ;  and  some  one, 
snatching  it  from  him,  read  it  aloud. 

"  It's  a  forgery,"  shouted  some  of  the  rude  fellows. 
"  General  Cass  didn't  write  it." 

"  Shoot  him  !  "  cried  still  others.  "  He  is  like  all  the 
savasfes,  and  who  ever  heard  of  one  that  could  be 
trusted  }  " 

"  Yes !  "  said  a  burly  Kentuckian.  "  Think  of  the 
women  and   children   the   dog    has   murdered." 

"Shoot  him  we  will!"  answered  many  rough  voices; 
and  a  dozen  muskets  were  leveled  toward  him. 

"  No,  you  won't  shoot  him  ! "  said  Captain  Lincoln, 
stepping  between  the  Indian  and  his  angry  foes.  "  He 
is  under  my  protection,  and  the  first  man  that  touches 
him  dies  ! " 

One  by  one  the  weapons  were  lowered,  and  the  grum- 
bhng  soldiers  walked  sullenly  away.  A  man  who  was 
present  said  long  afterward  that  never  in  his  life  had  he 
seen  Lincoln  "  so  roused  over  anything." 

Days  passed,  and  the  boat  did  not  arrive.  Finally  the 
time  for  which  the  company  had  enlisted  expired.      Most 


up  in  Black  Hawk's  Country  93 

of  the  men  had  had  enough  of  soldiering  and  were  glad  to 
make  excuses  and  hurry  home.  But  the  Indians  were 
still  on  the  war  path,  and  Lincoln  was  no  sooner  mustered 
out  than  he  reenlisted  as  a  private  in  another  company. 
This  new  company  was  known  as  the  "  Independent  Spy 
Battalion  of  Mounted  Rangers,"  and  it  soon  went  into 
camp  on  the  banks  of  Rock  River  not  far  from  where  the 
city  of  Dixon,  Illinois,  now  stands.  To  this  camp  came 
other  soldiers,  some  of  whom,  then  unknown,  were 
destined  to  become  famous  in  the  history  of  their  country. 
Among  these  were  Zachary  Taylor,  a  lieutenant  colonel, 
who  seventeen  years  later  was  to  be  President  of  the  United 
States.  With  him  was  Jefferson  Davis,  a  lieutenant,  who 
thirty  years  later  was  to  be  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  raw-boned  recruit  from  the  Sangamon, 
ever  received  so  much  as  a  passing  glance  from  these  fine 
officers  whose  birth  and  station  were  so  much  above  his 
own.  But  among  the  volunteers  he  was  well  known  for 
his  courage  and  good  humor;  and  he  was  long  afterward 
remembered  as  the  best  story-teller,  and  on  all  accounts 
the  best  soldier,  in  the  Spy  Battalion. 

But  he  was  to  have  no  chance  to  show  his  bravery  on 
the  field  of  battle.  Before  the  Spy  Battalion  had  reached 
the  place  where  the  enemy  was  supposed  to  be,  and  before 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  seen  a  single  hostile  Indian,  the 
war  was  ended.  In  July  a  part  of  the  army  had  fallen 
upon  Black  Hawk's  camp  on  the  bluffs  of  the  Wisconsin, 
and  defeated  his  warriors  with  great  slaughter.  Those 
who   escaped   fled   toward   the    Mississippi,    anxious  now 


94  AbraJiatn  Lincoln 

above  all  things  to  cross  it,  and  return  to  their  reserva- 
tion. But  they  were  overtaken  at  Bad  Axe  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  great  river,  and  in  the  bloody  scene  which 
followed,  nearly  all  of  them  were  barbarously  slain. 

Black  Hawk  escaped  with  his  life,  but  was  captured  a 
few  days  later.  He  was  taken  to  Washington,  and  on  the 
way  was  exhibited  in  many  of  the  Northern  cities.  When 
at  last  the  fearless  old  man  stood  before  President  Jackson, 
he  made  a  little  speech  which  will  never  be  forgotten. 

"I  am  a  man,"  he  said,  "and  you  are  another.  I  did 
not  expect  to  conquer  the  white  people.  I  took  up  the 
hatchet  to  avenge  injuries  which  could  no  longer  be  borne. 
Had  I  borne  them  longer,  my  people  would  have  said : 
'  Black  Hawk  is  a  squaw  ;  he  is  too  old  to  be  a  chief  ;  he 
is  no  Sac'  This  caused  me  to  raise  the  war  whoop. 
I  say  no  more  of  it;  all  is  known  to  you." 

Thus  ended  the  last  Indian  war  in  that  part  of  our 
country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Alleghanies. 
Step  by  step  the  red  men  had  disputed  the  westward 
march  of  civilization  ;  step  by  step  the  white  men  had 
driven  them  from  their  hunting  grounds  and  taken  posses- 
sion of  their  lands.  And  now  in  all  that  region  there 
remained  scarcely  a  spot  which  the  Indian  could  truthfully 
claim  as  his  own. 

The  war  being  over,  the  volunteer  soldiers  were  of 
course  discharged.  The  Independent  Spy  Battalion  was 
mustered  out  by  a  young  officer  of  the  United  States 
army,  Lieutenant  Robert  -Anderson — famous  twenty- 
nine  years  later  as  the  commander  of  Fort  Sumter  when 
the  first  shot  was  fired  in  the  Civil  War.    Abraham  Lincoln, 


Election  —  but  not  of  Abraham  Lhicoln  95 

with  one  companion,  set  out   for  home,  walking  most  of 
the  way  from  the  Rock  River  valley  to  New  Salem. 


XIX.     ELECTION  — BUT  NOT  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

When  Lincoln  arrived  at  the  little  town  on  the  Sanga- 
mon, everybody  was  glad  to  see  him  and  anxious  to  shake 
hands  with  him.  In  ten  days  an  election  was  to  be  held, 
and  the  people  of  the  district  were  to  choose  a  man  to 
represent  them  in  the  legislature.  Young  Lincoln  had 
already  announced  that  he  would  be  a  candidate ;  and 
now  all  his  old  neighbors  joined  in  urging  others  to  vote 
for  him. 

It  was  the  custom  for  all  the  candidates  to  make 
speeches  at  different  places  in  the  district,  and  to  explain 
what  they  would  do  for  the  people  in  case  they  should  be 
elected.  The  election  being  so  close  at  hand,  there  was 
but  little  time  for  Abraham  Lincoln  to  prepare  for  speech- 
making  ;  but  he  entered  into  the  contest  with  great  energy 
and  spirit. 

On  the  very  next  day  after  his  return,  there  was  a 
public  sale  of  pigs  and  cattle  at  a  crossroad,  twelve  miles 
from  Springfield,  and  at  its  close  there  was  to  be  a  great 
political  meeting.  All  the  farmers  and  stock  raisers  for 
miles  around  were  there,  and  the  talk  of  the  day  was 
divided  between  cattle  and  politics.  A  platform  had  been 
built  for  the  speakers,  and  on  it  was  placed  a  long  bench 
for  the  candidates  to  sit  upon.  Lawyers  were  there  from 
Springfield,  and  smart  young  men  from  other  towns.  The 
crowd  was    a  rude  and  boisterous    one ;  few  of  the  men 


q6  Abraham  Lincoln 

wore  coats,  and  many  were  barefooted.  They  were  not 
likely  to  look  with  favor  upon  a  candidate  dressed  in 
broadcloth  and  tine  linen. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  last  to  make  a  speech.  He 
stood  up  on  the  platform,  and  his  appearance  at  once 
gained  the  respect  of  the  farmers.  He  was  a  gawky, 
rough-looking  fellow,  six  feet  and  four  inches  tall.  He 
wore  a  loose  coat  made  of  coarse  blue  jeans,  a  pair  of 
home-made  trousers  that  were  at  least  six  inches  too 
short,  and  cowhide  boots  that  had  seen  much  tramping 
through  the  black  mud  of  the  prairies.  Looking  straight 
at  his  audience,  he  began  :  — 

"  Gentlemen  and  Fellow-citizens  :  I  presume  you 
all  know  who  I  am.  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I 
have  been  solicited  by  many  friends  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  legislature.  My  politics  are  short  and  sweet. 
I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  bank ;  am  in  favor  of  the 
internal-improvement  system  and  a  high  protective  tariff. 
These  are  my  sentiments  and  political  principles.  If 
elected,  I  shall  be  thankful;  if  not,  it  will  be  all  the 
same." 

This  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  first  political  speech. 
During  the  week  which  followed  he  spoke  at  Springfield 
and  perhaps  at  other  places,  but  there  is  no  record  of 
what  he  said.  The  district  was  a  very  large  one,  and  as 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  see  every  voter,  he  sent 
out  a  handbill  to  tell  the  people  what  they  might  expect 
from  him  if  he  should  be  elected.  In  this  handbill  he 
said :  — 

"  I  am  young,  and  unknown  to  many  of   you.     I  was 


Election — but  not  of  Ab^'aJiain  Lincoln  97 

born  and  have  ever  remained  in  the  most  humble  walks 
of  life.  I  have  no  wealthy  or  powerful  relations  or  friends 
to  recommend  me.  My  case  is  thrown  exclusively  upon 
the  independent  voters  of  the  county ;  and,  if  elected,  they 
will  have  conferred  a  favor  upon  me  for' which  I  shall  be 
unremitting  in  my  labors  to  compensate.  But  if  the  good 
people  in  their  wisdom  shall  see  fit  to  keep  me  in  the 
background,  I  have  been  too  familiar  with  disappoint- 
ments to  be  very  much  chagrined." 

Election  day  came,  and  every  man  in  New  Salem, 
whether  Democrat  or  Whig,  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 
But  when  the  ballots  in  Springfield  and  the  remote  town- 
ships were  counted,  it  was  found  that  he  had  been  defeated. 
Since  this  was  the  first  time  that  his  name  had  been  put 
before  the  people,  he  had  not  hoped  for  much,  and  so  he 
was  not  "  very  much  chagrined."  Indeed,  he  was  only 
twenty-three  years  old,  and  what  need  had  he  to  feel 
discouraged } 

During  the  next  few  months  he  was  busy  in  many  ways. 
He  thought  of  becoming  a  blacksmith,  and  was  casting 
about  for  a  place  to  set  up  his  shop,  when  he  was  per- 
suaded to  buy  the  half  of  a  little  store  in  New  Salem.  He 
had  not  a  dollar  with  which  to  pay  for  it,  but  his  honesty 
was  so  well  known  that  his  notes  were  believed  to  be  as 
good  as  money.  This  venture  was,  however,  an  unlucky 
one.  His  partner  proved  to  be  a  worthless  fellow,  who 
mismanaged  the  business  and  spent  everything  for  liquor. 
In  a  very  short  time  the  store  was  closed,  and  Lincoln  was 
left  responsible  for  the  notes  which  he  had  given.  It  was 
six  years  before  this  debt  was  entirely  settled,  and  within 

LINCOLN  —  7 


98 


AbraJiani  Lincoln 


that  time  he  had  many  a  hard  struggle ;  but  in  the  end 
every  cent  was  paid. 


1833 


XX.     "LAW,   SIR,   LAW!" 

Ever  since  he  had  attended  that  famous  trial  in  Indiana, 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  cherished  an  ambition  to  become 
a  lawyer.  Whether  he  was  poling  a  flatboat 
down  the  Mississippi,  or  splitting  rails  in  the 
woods,  or  seUing  pins  and  calico  to  the  farmers'  wives,  or 

leading  his  little  company  of 
Illinois  volunteers,  he  had  al- 
ways this  thing  in  mind.  About 
the  time  he  was  trying  to  be  a 
storekeeper  he  happened  to,  visit 
Springfield,  and  there  he  bought 
a  second-hand  copy  of  Black- 
stone's  "  Commentaries."  This 
work,  as  you  may  know,  has 
been  for  more  than  a  cen- 
tury the  standard  authority 
'iT  A?^/  on  English  common  law,  and 
it  is  one  of  the  first  books  that 
a  young  law  student  is  ex- 
pected to  master.  The  copy  which  Lincoln  bought  was 
old  and  worn,  but  it  was  complete,  and  he  carried  it 
home  as  he  would  a  precious  treasure.  Every  moment 
that  he  could  snatch  from  other  duties, was  now  given 
to  the  study  of  this  volume,  and  within  a  few  weeks 
he  had  mastered  all  that  was  in  it.     But  the  knowledge 


''Law,  Sir,  Law!''  99 

thus  gained  only  made  him  eager  for  more.  If  he  only 
had  the  necessary  books,  how  much  he  might  learn !  If 
he  only  had  money,  how  soon  would  the  books  be  forth- 
coming ! 

He  was  thinking  of  this  one  day  when  he  remembered 
that,  in  the  soldiers'  camp  on  Rock  River,  he  had  met  and 
become  acquainted  with  a  young  lawyer  whose  name  was 
John  T.  Stuart.  This  Mr.  Stuart  lived  in  Springfield,  and 
was  said  to  have  a  very  good  library.  Perhaps  he  would 
lend  a  volume  now  and  then.  No  sooner  had  this  thought 
come  into  Lincoln's  mind  than  he  put  on  his  hat  and  started 
to  walk  to  Springfield  to  see  his  friend. 

Mr.  Stuart  was  very  kind.  "  Certainly,"  he  said.  "  You 
are  welcome  not  only  to  a  volume,  but  to  every  volume  in 
my  library ; "  and  then  he  gave  some  very  sensible  advice 
about  the  best  books  to  be  read  and  the  order  in  which  they 
should  be  studied.  When  young  Lincoln  began  his  long 
walk  homeward  that  evening  he  held  an  open  book  in  his 
hand ;  and  before  he  had  reached  New  Salem  he  had  mas- 
tered thirty  or  forty  pages  of  it. 

After  the  failure  of  the  store  he  supported  himself  by 
doing  any  odd  jobs  that  he  could  find.  Sometimes  he 
shouldered  his  ax  and  went  out  to  the  woods  to  chop  down 
trees  for  fuel ;  sometimes  he  helped  a  busy  neighbor  gather 
his  crops ;  but  there  was  never  a  leisure  moment  when  he 
was  not  studying.  One  day  Farmer  Godby  hired  him 
to  do  some  work  in  a  distant  field.  Going  out  in  the 
afternoon  to  see  how  matters  were  progressing,  the  farmer 
was  surprised  to  find  the  young  man  sitting  on  a  stump 
with  a  book  in  his  hand. 


100  '  Abraham  Lincoln 

"  Hello,  Abe  !  "  he  cried  ;  "  what  are  you  reading  ? " 

"  I  am  not  reading,"  answered  Lincoln,  "  I  am  study- 
ing." 

"  Well,  well !    then  tell  me  what  you  are  studying." 

"  Law,  sir,  law  !  "  was  the  reply. 

The  farmer  was  so  much  astonished  that  he  had  not 
words  to  express  himself  ;  and  he  was  still  more  astonished 
when  he  saw  that  his  hired  man  had  wasted  no  time  over 
the  book,  but  had  already  done  a  full  day's  work. 

Everywhere  he  went,  Lincoln  was  pretty  sure  to  carry  a 
book  with  him.  While  walking  along  the  road  he  would 
often  be  so  deep  in  study  that  his  best  friends  might  pass 
him  without  being  noticed.  On  hot  summer  days  it  was 
common  to  see  him  lying  in  the  shade  of  a  tree  and  poring 
over  some  dry  treatise  on  law.  People  said  that  he  was 
going  crazy  over  books. 

But  soon  he  began  to  make  use  of  his  knowledge. 
The  neighbors,  having  great  confidence  in  his  wisdom, 
came  to  him  for  legal  advice.  They  sought  his  help  in 
drawing  up  deeds  and  mortgages  and  other  written  con- 
tracts ;  and  now  and  then  he  was  given  the  management 
of  some  case  at  law  that  was  being  tried  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace. 

XXI.     IN   THE    POSTAL    SERVICE 

About  this  time  young  Lincoln  was  appointed  post- 
master at  New  Salem.  Once  a  week  a  postman,  riding  on 
horseback,  with  a  pair  of  saddlebags  beneath  him,  brought 
the  mail  to  the  town.  It  was  not  a  large  mail  —  perhaps  a 
dozen  letters  and  three  or  four  newspapers.     Postmaster 


In  the  Postal  Scj-vice 


lOI 


Lincoln  was  always  ready  to  receive  it  when  it  came  It 
was  not  worth  while  to  rent  a  room  for  a  postoffice  ;  but  he 
put  the  letters  in  his  hat  and  kept  them  there  until  called 
for ;  or,  if  he  had  the  time  to  do  so,  he  would  kindly  carry 
them  to  the  people 
for  whom  they 
were  intended. 

Of  course  there 
was  not  much 
salary  attached  to 
a  postoffice  that 
was  carried  in 
one's  hat.  There 
were  no  postage 
stamps  at  that 
time,  and  there 
were  no  envelopes. 
When  any  one 
wished  to  mail  a 
letter,  it  was 
brought  to  the 
postmaster,  who 
kept  it  until  the 
mail  carrier  made 

his  next  weekly  visit.  Sometimes  the  sender  paid  the  post- 
age, and  then  the  postmaster  would  write,  in  big,  plain 
characters  on  the  face  of  it,  the  word  Paid.  But  the  rates 
of  postage  were  very  high,  and  it  generally  happened  that 
the  sender  did  not  pay  any  part  of  it,  but  left  the  whole  to 
be  collected  from  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 


Lincoln  the  Postmaster 


I02  Abraham  Lincoln 

It  was,  therefore,  not  always  a  pleasant  thing  to  receive  a 
letter.  The  postmaster  collected  the  money  that  was  due 
for  postage  and  kept  it  until  an  agent  from  the  general 
postoffice  called  for  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  last  postmaster  that  New  Salem 
ever  had.  People  were  already  moving  away  from  the 
village  and  finding  better  homes  in  the  more  promising 
settlements  above  and  below.  The  amount  of  mail  sent 
out  and  received  became  less  with  each  passing  month, 
and  in  a  little  over  two  years  the  office  was  discontinued. 
At  this  time  the  young  postmaster  had  on  hand  about 
seventeen  dollars  which  had  been  paid  to  him  for  postage. 
For  some  reason  the  agent  failed  to  come  after  this 
money,  and  several  years  passed  before  it  was  called  for. 
In  the  meanwhile  Mr.  Lincoln  had  removed  to  Springfield; 
he  was  in  debt,  and  so  poor  that  he  was  often  in  need  of 
the  common  comforts  of  life.  At  last  one  day,  when  he 
least  expected  it,  the  agent  of  the  government  called 
at  his  little  law  office  and  presented  the  long-neglected 
account. 

"Sit  down  and  wait  a  minute,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln;  and 
leaving  the  office,  he  strode  rapidly  down  the  street.  Had 
he  gone  out  to  borrow  the  money  of  some  of  his  friends  .'' 

In  a  few  moments  he  returned  with  an  old  blue  stock- 
ing in  his  hand. 

"  Here  is  the  money,"  he  said.  "  It  has  been  waiting 
for  you  a  long  time  ;  "  and  he  poured  from  the  stocking  a 
great  number  of  copper  cents  and  little  pieces  of  silver, 
such  as  the  country  people  had  used  in  paying  postage. 
"  I  believe  it  is  all  here,"  he  said.     And  when  the  agent 


Following  the  Surveyor's  Chain  103 

counted  it,  he  found  it  to  be  exactly  the  sum  that  was  due. 
Notwithstanding  his  great  poverty  and  his  frequent  need, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  touched  a  cent  of  the  money  that  he 
was  holding  in  trust  for  the  government.  "  I  never  use 
any  man's  money  but  my  own,"  he  said. 

XXII.     FOLLOWING   THE   SURVEYOR'S   CHAIN 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  now  nearly  twenty-five  years  of 
age.  Never  for  a  day  had  he  given  up  the  idea  of  becom- 
ing a  lawyer ;  and  every  spare  moment  was  spent  in 
study.  But  he  must  have  food  to  eat,  and  a  place  to 
sleep ;  and  to  earn  money  to  pay  for  these,  he  still  had  to 
work  hard  with  his  hands.  One  day  when  he  was  split- 
ting rails  in  the  woods,  word  came  to  him  that  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, the  county  surveyor,  was  at  his  boarding  place  and 
wished  to  see  him.  He  shouldered  his  ax  and  maul,  and 
with  long  strides  made  his  way  back  to  the  village,  won- 
dering what  the  surveyor  could  want  with  him. 

"  Abe,  do  you  know  anything  about  surveying } "  asked 
Mr.  Calhoun. 

Young  Lincoln  was  obliged  to  confess  that  although  he 
had  once  read  a  book  on  that  subject,  he  did  not  know 
much  about  it.  Then  Mr.  Calhoun  told  him  that  he  was 
overcrowded  with  work  and  must  have  help.  If  Lincoln 
would  take  the  little  book  which  he  had,  and  study  it 
until  he  had  mastered  the  principal  rules,  he  would  make 
him  assistant  surveyor  and  pay  him  good  wages.  Lincoln 
looked  at  the  book  and  thought  that  he  had  mastered 
many  things  more  difficult. 


104 


A  brahain  L  incohi 


"I  will  do  my  best,"  he  said;  "  and  when  I  am  ready  1 
will  report  to  you." 

The  schoolmaster,  Menton  Graham,  offered  to  help 
him  with  the  knotty  problems  ;  and  after  six  weeks  of 
hard   study,  Lincoln    was   ready  for   the   work  of  a  sur- 


Lincoln  the  Surveyor 

veyor.  With  the  money  which  he  had  saved  he  bought 
a  horse  and  a  pair  of  saddlebags,  a  compass  and  chain, 
and  other  things  needful  in  his  business.  The  county 
was  a  large  one,  and  there  was  much  to  be  done,  first 
in  this  part,  then  in  that.     A  new  village  called  Petersburg 


■     Folloiving  tJic  Surveyor  s  Chain  105 

had  been  laid  out  two  miles  below  New  Salem,  and 
Lincoln  was  sent  down  to  survey  and  mark  off  the  lots 
and  streets.  The  boundary  lines  of  many  farms  were 
to  be  determined  and  the  corner  stones  set  in  place. 
New  roads  were  to  be  marked  out,  and  old  ones  were  to  be 
improved.  And  in  work  of  this  kind  the  young  surveyor 
found  plenty  to  do. 

This  business  brought  him  into  contact  with  all  kinds  of 
people,  and  he  made  many  acquaintances  in  every  part 
of  the  county.  Although  it  took  him  away  from  his  law 
studies  for  a  while,  it  was  the  best  possible  preparation  for 
the  career  that  was  now  beginning  to  open  before  him. 

Every  one  who  knew  him  soon  became  his  fast  friend ; 
for  to  the  settlers  on  the  prairie  he  seemed  to  have  all 
the  virtues  and  accomplishments  that  were  desirable  in 
any  man.  He  not  only  knew  much  about  books,  but  he 
understood  woodcraft  better  than  any  hunter  or  back- 
woodsman in  that  region.  He  was  a  good  judge  of 
horses,  and  as  the  umpire  of  a  horse  race  he  had  no  equal. 
His  strength  was  a  thing  to  be  wondered  at  even  in  that 
country  of  strong  men.  It  was  said  that  at  the  mill  in 
New  Salem  he  once  lifted  a  box  of  stones  weighing  more 
than  a  thousand  pounds ;  and  in  wrestling,  leaping,  and 
other  feats  of  strength  in  which  the  people  of  a  newly 
settled  region  delight,  he  was  the  admiration  of  all. 

Although  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  had 
been  in  constant  contact  with  rudeness  and  vulgarity,  yet 
his  manners  were  free  from  coarseness,  and  his  language 
from  uncleanness  and  profanity.  Any  other  person  thus 
standing   aloof   from   the   bad    habits    so  common  to  the 


io6  Abraham  Lincoln 

backwoods  would  have  been  treated  with  scorn  and  abuse, 
as  one  trying  to  appear  better  than  his  fellows.  But  with 
Lincoln  the  matter  was  quite  otherwise.  He  never  did 
anything  in  a  boastful  way,  and  neither  in  manner  nor  in 
word  did  he  claim  for  himself  superiority  over  others. 
Yet  the  uncultured  people  with  whom  he  was  cast  knew 
that  he  was  their  superior,  and  while  they  themselves  did 
not  practice  virtue,  they  were  proud  and  pleased  to  see  it 
practiced  by  him. 

XXIII.     ENTERING  POLITICS   IN   EARNEST 

While  busy  surveying  farms  and  making  new  acquaint- 
ances, Abraham  Lincoln  still  kept  thinking  of  the  future. 
Hardly  a  day  passed  that  he  did  not  do  something 
to  increase  his  knowledge  and  improve  his  mind. 
He  was  almost  the  only  man  in  New  Salem  who  was  a 
regular  subscriber  to  a  newspaper;  and  among  all  his 
acquaintances  there  was  no  one  who  knew  as  much  about 
politics  as  he. 

The  name  of  Henry  Clay  had  always  a  strange  charm 
for  him.  We  have  seen  how,  when  a  mere  child  in  the 
wretched  half-faced  camp  at  Pigeon  Creek,  he  read  the 
story  of  the  poor  "  mill  boy  of  the  Slashes."  He  had  then 
and  there  adopted  Henry  Clay  as  his  ideal  of  pluck  and 
perseverance.  When  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  he  chose 
the  same  person  as  his  political  leader.  At  New  Salem  he 
was  the  constant  reader  of  Henry  Clay's  newspaper,  the 
Loii  isville  Joii  imal. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  him  on  Saturday  afternoons 


Ejitering  Politics  in  Earnest 


107 


to  sit  on  an  empty  goods  box  in  front  of  the  village  store 
and  read  the  news  to  a  group  of  listening  farmers ;  and 
then  he  would  explain  the  editorials  in  the  Journal ,  and 
cause  great  mirth  by  quoting  the  bright,  witty  sayings 
which  were  then  a  prominent  feature  of  that  able  paper. 
He  took  much  pains  to 
keep  abreast  of  the 
public  questions  of  the 
day,  and  he  was  the 
oracle  to  whom  all  his 
neighbors  went  for  in- 
formation. " If  you 
want  to  learn  anything 
about  politics,"  they 
would  say,  "  go  and  ask 
Abe  Lincoln.  He'll 
tell  you  all  that's  worth 
knowing." 

What  were  some  of 
the  things  that  he 
talked  about    and    ex- 


Henry  Clay 


plained   to    his   little    Saturday    audience    at   the    village 
store }      Let  us  see. 

There  were  then,  as  there  are  now,  two  great  political 
parties  ;  and  nearly  .every  man  in  the  country  "belonged  " 
to  one  or  the  other  of  these  parties.  They  were  known  as 
the  Democratic  party  and  the  Whig  party.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  had  been  in  existence  many  years  ;  people  said 
that  it  was  founded  (although  under  a  slightly  different 
name)  by  the  great  Thomas  Jefferson.     The  Whig  party, 


I08  AbrahaDi  Lijicohi 

on  the  other  hand,  was  very  new  ;  indeed,  it  had  just  been 
formed,  and  the  foremost  man  in  its  ranks  was  Henry 
Clay. 

The  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  at  that  time  was 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
had  already  served  one  term  as  President,  and  was  now 
near  the  middle  of  his  second  term.  In  order  to  under- 
stand the  great  questions  of  the  time,  young  Lincoln  some- 
times found  it  necessary  to  refer  to  some  of  the  events  of 
Jackson's  iirst  term.  In  order  to  understand  the  influences 
which  shaped  the  political  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  will 
be  well  for  us  to  follow  a  similar  course. 

At  Jackson's  first  election  —  which  took  place  in  1828  — 
there  were  no  Whigs,  but  those  who  opposed  him  called 
themselves  National  Republicans.  The  leaders  of  the 
National  Republicans  were  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel  Web- 
ster. Their  candidate  for  the  presidency  was  John  Quincy 
Adams. 

The  chief  question  between  the  parties  at  that  time,  as  at 
several  times  since,  was  the  tariff,  or  tax  on  goods  brought 
into  this  country  from  foreign  lands.  Did  a  high  tariff 
promote  national  prosperity,  or  did  it  not }  The  answer  to 
this  question  was  given  quite  differently  by  different  per- 
sons :  it  depended  upon  the  place  in  which  one  lived  and 
the  business  in  which  he  was  employed  ;  it  was  dictated  by 
personal  interest  rather  than  by  patriotism. 

In  the  North  —  particularly  in  the  New  England  states 
—  a  great  many  people  were  engaged  in  manufacturing; 
and  they  believed  that  a  high  tariff  would  prevent  many 
foreign  goods  from  being  brought  to  our  country,  and  thus 


Entering  Politics  in  Earnest  109 

make  a  better  market  and  more  general  demand  for 
American  goods.  The  result  of  this  would  be  more  work 
and  better  wages  for  the  workingmen. 

But  in  the  South  there  were  no  manufactories  and 
but  few  mills  of  any  kind.  Nearly  all  the  labor  was  done 
by  slaves,  and  the  chief  products  were  sugar,  cotton,  and 
tobacco.  The  people  of  that  section  believed  that  a  high 
protective  tariff  would  be  an  injury  to  them  ;  it  would 
increase  the  price  of  such  goods  as  they  did  not  make,  but 
were  obliged  to  buy  ;  it  would  make  no  better  market  for 
the  things  they  had  to  sell. 

Just  before  the  election  of  Jackson,  Congress  had  passed 
an  act  increasing  the  tariff  on  woolen  manufactures,  iron 
goods,  and  many  other  articles.  The  act  was  intended 
most  of  all  to  benefit  the  woolen  industry  in  the  North ; 
and  it  was  favored  by  great  numbers  of  people  who  thought 
that  it  would  also  benefit  the  country  at  large.  In  the 
South,  and  especially  in  South  Carolina,  the  feeling  against 
it  was  very  bitter.  When  Andrew  Jackson  became  Presi- 
dent, it  was  supposed  that  his  influence  would  cause  the 
law  to  be  repealed ;  but  its  friends  were  numerous  and 
powerful,  and  it  remained  in  force. 

Toward  the  end  of  Jackson's  first  term  the  dissatisfac- 
tion became  greater.  The  people  of  South  Carolina  met 
in  convention  and  adopted  what  has  since  been 
known  as  the  Nullification  Ordinance.  This  was 
a  resolution  asserting  that  the  tariff  act  was  null  and  void 
in  South  Carolina,  and  declaring  that  if  the  United  States 
government  attempted  to  enforce  it  there,  the  state  would 
secede  from  the  Union. 


no 


Abrakatn  Lincoln 


It  was  believed  that  the  President,  who  was  a  Southern 
man  and  opposed  to  a  high  tariff,  would  quietly  permit  the 
South  Carolinians  to  have  their  own  way.  People  were 
surprised,  therefore,  when  on  the  loth  of  December  he 
issued  a  proclamation  against  the  nullifiers. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  he  said,  "  forms 
a  government,  not  a  league.     Our  Constitution  does  not 

contain  the  absurdity  of 
giving  power  to  make 
laws,  and  another  power 
to  resist  them.  To  say 
that  any  state  may  at 
pleasure  secede  from  the 
Union  is  to  say  that  the 
United  States  are  not  a 
nation." 

Throughout  the  North, 
this  action  of  President 
Jackson  was  heartily  ap- 
proved, even  by  many 
who  were  not  Democrats 
and  had  voted  against 
him.  But  the  South 
Carolinians  held  their  ground.  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  a  South  Carolinian  and 
the  leader  of  the  nullifiers.  He  at  once  resigned  his 
position  in  order  that  he  might  do  greater  service  to  his 
state. 

Troublesome  times  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  Congress 
passed  a  law  instructing  the  President  to  force  the  state  of 


John  C.  Calhoun 


Entering  Politics  in  Earnest  ill 

South  Carolina  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  If 
he  should  attempt  to  do  this,  civil  war  would  certainly 
follow. 

But  at  this  perilous  moment  Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky 
came  forward  with  a  compromise  bill.  Henry  Clay  was 
noted  for  doing  such  things.  More  than  once,  when  sec- 
tional feeling  had  threatened  to  destroy  the  very  life  of 
our  nation,  he  had  found  a  way  to  please  both  parties  and 
restore  harmony  and  peace.  "  Come,  my  friends,"  he  would 
say,  "we  cannot  all  have  what  we  want.  But  we  can  meet 
on  middle  ground,  and  each  one,  by  giving  up  only  a  little 
to  the  other,  may  gain  more  than  can  possibly  be  gotten 
by  strife."  And  it  was  by  such  friendly  services  as  this 
that  the  Union  was  preserved  through  more  than  one 
crisis,  and  Clay  became  known  in  history  as  the  Great 
Pacificator. 

The  compromise  which  he  suggested  at  this  time  pro- 
vided that  South  Carolina  should  give  up  her  nullification 
scheme  and  stay  peaceably  in  the  Union,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  odious  tariff  should  be  reduced  little  by 
little  for  ten  years,  or  until  every  section  of  the  country 
should  be  satisfied  with  it. 

This  was  a  simple  and  easy  way  of  settling  an  ugly  dis- 
pute, and  everybody  was  glad  to  agree  to  it.  South  Caro- 
lina showed  her  loyalty  by  obeying  a  law  which  she  thought 
harmful  to  the  interests  of  her  people.  The  friends  of 
high  tariff  showed  their  loyalty  by  bending  to  the  wishes 
of  their  fellow-citizens  whose  circumstances  were  not  the 
same  as  their  own. 

We  shall  find,  however,  that  it  was  many  years  before 


112  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  South  Carolinians  were  ready  to  give  up  the  idea  that 
their  state  might  withdraw  from  the  Union  whenever  she 
chose  to  do  so.  In  the  earher  history  of  our  country, 
loyalty  to  one's  state  was  held  to  be  more  praiseworthy 
than  loyalty  to  the  Union.  This  was  true  in  the  North  as 
well  as  in  the  South,  and  it  gave  rise  to  the  doctrine  of 
States'  Rights,  which  regarded  the  United  States  as  a 
league  and  not  as  a  nation.  "  The  state  first,  the  United 
States  second  "  — that  was  the  original  idea  of  patriotism, 
and  it  was  the  idea  which  John  C  Calhoun  and  his  followers 
believed  to  be  the  true  one.  But  it  was  not  the  doctrine 
of  Andrew  Jackson ;  it  was  not  the  doctrine  of  Henry 
Clay. 

We  may  imagine  Abraham  Lincoln  discussing  these 
matters  with  his  farmer  friends  at  New  Salem,  and  sup- 
porting his  arguments  by  reading  extracts  from  the  Louis- 
ville Journal.  They  were  important  issues  at  that  time, 
and  every  voter  in  the  country  had  his  opinion  about 
them. 

Andrew  Jackson  —  "Old  Hickory"  as  his  friends  liked 
to  call  him  —  was  a  great  favorite  in  the  West ;  and  in 
Illinois  most  of  the  people  were  Democrats.  His  second 
election  (in  1832)  was  a  famous  victory.  The  National 
Republican  party,  with  Henry  Clay  as  its  candidate,  had 
made  a  strong  fight  against  him ;  but  it  was  beaten  so 
badly  that  its  leaders  found  it  necessary  to  disband  in 
order  that  a  new  party  might  be  formed  under  another 
name. 

Two  years  later,  therefore,  the  Whig  party  was  organ- 
ized.    It  was  intended  to  attract  to  its  ranks  all  who,  for 


Rule  ring  Politics  in  Earnest  1 13 

any  reason,  disliked  the  ])()lic'y  of  President  Jackson.  It 
included  not  only  those  who  had  formerly  called  them- 
selves National  Republicans,  but  also  the  nullifiers  and 
states'-rights  men  of  the  South,  and  many  dissatisfied 
Democrats.  The  leaders  of  this  new  party  were  Henry 
Clay  of  Kentucky,  Daniel  Webster  of  Massachusetts,  and 
John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina.  These  three  men 
were  the  political  giants  of  that  time ;  and  they  are  to  be 
remembered  as  probably  the  ablest  statesmen  that  our 
country  has  ever  known.  On  many  important  questions 
they  held  the  most  widely  differing  opinions ;  and  it  was 
only  in  their  opposition  to  the  high-handed  measures  of 
Andrew  Jackson  that  they  were  ever  really  in  agreement. 
It  was  with  this  new  party,  as  represented  by  his  political 
ideal,  Henry  Clay,  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  aUied  himself. 


LINCOLN  —  6 


BOOK   THE   SECOND  — PROBATION 

I.     A    MEMBER   OF    THE   LEGISLATURE 

IN  1834  there  was  another  state  election  in  Illinois,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  again  announced  himself  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  legislature. 

At  that  time  it  was  not  customary  for  parties  to  hold 
political  conventions,  as  they  do  now,  to  make  up  the 
ticket  which  is  to  be  voted  for  at  the  coming  election. 
If  a  man  wanted  an  office,  he  informed  the  public  that 
he  was  a  candidate,  and  he  declared  that  if  he  should  be 
elected  he  would  support  or  oppose  certain  measures. 
This  plan  made  it  possible  for  a  great  many  candidates 
to  present  themselves  for  the  same  office,  and  the  votes 
were  sometimes  very  scattering.  But  the  convention  sys- 
tem was  beginning  to  be  adopted  in  some  states.  It  not 
only  avoided  the  inconvenience  of  too  many  candidates, 
but  it  drew  a  more  distinct  line  between  the  parties.  It 
was  favored  especially  by  the  Jackson  Democrats ;  but 
the  Whigs  —  and  among  them  Abraham  Lincoln  —  were 
slow  to  approve  of  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  made  so  many  acquaintances  within 
the  past  year  that  there  was  now  little  need  for  him  to  tell 
the  people  who  he  was  or  what  were  his  principles. 
Almost  every  man  who  knew  him  was  eager  to  vote  for 
him ;  and  he  was  elected  by  a,  large  majority. 

114 


A  Member  of  the  Legislature  115 

He  was  only  twenty-five  years  old  —  a  homely,  awk- 
ward fellow  who  knew  little  of  the  ways  of  the  world ; 
but  by  reason  of  his  true  worth  and  his  untiring  persever- 
ance, he  had  at  this  early  age  reached  one  of  the  most 
honorable  positions  in  his  state.  He  had  now  come  to  the 
first  dividing  line  in  his  life :  the  years  that  were  past  had 
been  his  period  of  preparation  ;  the  years  that  were  to 
come  would  be  periods  of  probation  and  achievement. 

The  capital  of  Illinois  at  that  time  was  Vandalia,  a 
small  town  sixty  or  seventy  miles  southeast  of  Springfield. 
When  the  time  came  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  start  to  the  legis- 
lature, he  found  himself  without  money  ;  and  his  thread- 
bare coat  and  ill-fitting  trousers  were  not  such  as  a  lawmaker 
might  wear  with  credit.  But  his  friends  were  ready  and 
eager  to  help  him  ;  and  so,  one  day  early  in  winter,  feeling 
very  strange  in  a  brand  new  suit  of  jeans,  he  set  out  for 
the  capital. 

He  did  not  distinguish  himself  at  that  session  of  the 
legislature.  He  made  no  speeches,  he  proposed  no  new 
laws.  But  he  was  a  listener  and  learner,  and  was  ready 
with  his  vote  in  favor  of  whatever  measure  he  thought 
would  be  best  for  the  people  of  the  state.  He  became 
acquainted  with  men  of  culture  and  intelligence ;  he 
learned  some  of  the  ways  of  refined  society ;  and  he 
impressed  everybody  with  the  fact  that  he  was  a  quiet  and 
sensible  young  man  who  was  determined  to  make  the  best 
of  everything  that  came  in  his  way. 

The  session  was  a  short  one,  and  in  a  few  weeks  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  back  among  his  old  friends  at  New  Salem. 

Between  studying  law  and  surveying  farms  and  roads, 


1 1 6  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  summer  months  seemed  very  short  to  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  another  autumn  passed  unmarked  by  any  unusual 
happening.  At  the  beginning  of  winter,  he  was  again 
among  the  lawmakers  at  Vandalia. 

It  was  at  this  second  session  of  the  legislature  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  first  met  the  man  who  was  to  be  for  many 
years  his  most  powerful  political  rival.  That  man  was 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  a  young  lawyer  from  Morgan 
County,  who  had  lately  been  appointed  circuit  attorney. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  at  that  time  only  twenty-two  years  old. 
Like  Lincoln,  he  was  poor ;  but  he  had  had  opportunities 
of  a  kind  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  never  known. 

Douglas  was  born  at  Brandon,  Vermont,  and  when  a 
mere  babe  had  lost  his  father.  His  mother,  who  was 
a  woman  of  culture,  did  all  that  she  could  to  give  him  a 
good  education.  She  taught  him  at  home.  When  he  was 
older  she  sent  him  to  a  small  country  school  through  the 
winter  months;  but  during  the  rest  of  the  year  he  had  to 
work  on  the  farm. 

He  soon  learned  all  that  the  district  schoolmaster  could 
teach  him,  and  was  anxious  to  know  more ;  but  his  mother 
was  too  poor  to  send  him  to  college.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  learned  cabinet-making ;  and  by  the  practice  of  this 
trade  he  earned  money  enough  to  pay  his  tuition  at  an 
academy  for  nearly  a  year. 

Soon  after  this  young  Douglas's  mother  married  again, 
and  when  he  was  seventeen,  he  went  to  live  with  her  n.ear 
Canandaigua,  New  York,  whither  she  had  removed  with 
her   husband.     There    Douglas   taught   a   short   term   of 


A  Membej-  of  the  Legislature 


117 


school,  after  which  he  attended  an  academy  a  few  weeks, 
and  then  began  the  study  of  law.  Having  learned  some 
of  the  first  principles  of  his  jjrofession,  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  West. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1833,  he  arrived  at  the  village  of 
Winchester,  in  IlHnois,,  with  no  money  in  his  pockets  save 
three  silver  "levies"  (373  cents),  and  no  friend  to  whom 
he  could  apply  for  help.  Like  Abraham  Lincoln,  however, 
he  was  not  the  man  to 
be  cast  down  by  trifles. 
He  braced  himself  man- 
fully, and  went  right 
forward.  Within  three 
days  he  had  made  him- 
self so  well  known  to 
the  people  of  Win- 
chester that  they  chose 
him  to  teach  their  vil- 
lage school. 

At  the  end  of  the  year 
he  went  to  Jacksonville  ; 
and  in  the  very  month 
that  he  was  twenty-one, 
he  was  licensed  to  prac- 
tice law  in  the  courts  of 
Illinois.  Two  weeks  thereafter  he  made  a  public  speech 
in  defense  of  President  Jackson  which  so  wrought  upon 
his  hearers  that  he  at  once  became  the  most  popular  man 
in  that  part  of  the  country. 

That  speech  won  for  him  the  office  of  circuit  attorney 


Stephen  A.  Douglas 


Il8  Abraham  Lincoln 

II.     BETWEEN   VANDALIA   AND   NEW    SALEM 

The  second  session  of  the  legislature  of  183 5-1 836  was 
but  little  longer  than  the  first,  for  it  ended  about  the 
middle  of  January.  Mr.  Lincoln  made  but  little  prog- 
ress toward  winning  distinction.  .Nevertheless  he  deliv- 
ered one  or  two  short  speeches  which  were  listened  to  with 
attention ;  and  he  talked  so  well  on  matters  of  public 
interest  that  everybody  admired  his  sound  judgment  and 
the  courage  with  which  he  defended  his  convictions. 

With  the  ending  of  the  session  the  term  for  which  he 
was  elected  expired.  He  returned  to  New  Salem  and 
announced  himself  as  a  candidate  for  reelection. 

This  was  the  year  also  for  the  presidential  election, 
when  some  one  must  be  chosen  to  succeed  Andrew  Jack- 
son, whose  second  term  would  expire  on  the  4th  of  the 
following  March.  The  campaign  in  Sangamon  County 
was  carried  on  with  much  vigor,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  strong  opponent  of  the  Jackson 
democracy. 

"  I  go,"  he  said,  "  for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  the 
government  who  assist  in  bearing  its  burdens.  Conse- 
quently, I  go  for  admitting  all  whites  to  the  right  of  suf- 
frage who  pay  taxes  or  bear  arms  (by  no  means  excluding 
females).  .  .  .  Whether  elected  or  not,  I  go  for  distribu- 
ting the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  the 
several  states,  to  enable  our  state,  in  common  with  others, 
to  dig  canals  and  construct  railroads  without  borrowing 
money  and  paying  interest  on  it." 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  there  were  at  that  time  no 


Rag  Barons  vs.   Sons  of  Toil  119 

railroads  in  Illinois.  The  state  was  yet  in  its  infancy. 
The  great  prairies  were  for  the  most  part  still  unoccupied ; 
and  in  the  northern  section  of  the  state  there  were  wide 
stretches  of  unclaimed  lands,  broken  only  here  and  there 
by  straggling,  feeble  settlements.  But  immigrants  from 
the  older  states  were  coming  in  rapidly,  and  great  changes 
were  beginning  to  be  made.  It  was  just  the  time  for  an 
energetic  young  man  to  step  to  the  front  and  make  his 
influence  felt ;  and  in  Illinois  there  were  two  such  men, 
Lincoln  and   Douglas. 

Abraham  Lincoln  spent  more  than  half  of  the  summer 
in  traveling  from  one  part  of  his  district  to  another  and 
making  speeches  —  "  stumping  it,"  as  people  in  the 
West  would  say.  Sometimes  he  walked  from  town  to 
town ;  sometimes  he  rode  astride  of  a  farm  horse  which 
he  described  as  being  "  plainly  marked  with  harness  "  and 
as  "  having  lost  some  of  its  shoes." 

His  speeches  were  so  interesting  and  convincing,  and 
they  were  delivered  with  such  force  and  ease,  that  he  soon 
became  known  as  one  of  the  foremost  orators  of  the  state. 


III.     RAG    BARONS    vs.   SONS    OF   TOIL 

It  was  a  favorite  plea  of  the  Democrats  that  theirs  was 
the  party  of  the  common  people  —  that  it  was  the  party  of 
the  sons  of  toil,  the  plain  farmer  and  the  humble  laborer; 
and  they  ridiculed  the  Whigs  as  being  the  party  of  the 
kid-gloved  gentry  —  of  the  rich  speculator  and  the  bloated 
aristocrat.     All  this  had   much   weight  among  the  hard- 


I20  Abraham  Lincoln 

handed  pioneers  of  the  West ;  and  it  gained  many  votes 
for  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  friends. 

Among  the  Democratic  speakers  in  Sangamon  County 
there  was  a  certain  busy,  bustling  httle  dandy  known  as 
Colonel  Dick  Taylor.  When  in  town  he  took  great  pride 
in  appearing  well  dressed.  His  clothing  was  of  the  most 
fashionable  cut.  He  wore  kid  gloves  and  patent  leather 
boots,  and  delighted  in  a  gaudy  display  of  diamond  shirt 
studs  and  a  gold  watch  chain  with  costly  seals  and  charms. 
But  when  he  went  into  the  country  to  address  the  plain 
farmers  and  warn  them  against  the  Whigs,  he  cunningly 
put  on  a  long  linen  "  duster  "  to  conceal  all  this  finery  of 
which  he  was  so  fond.  He  could  then  make  his  hearers 
believe  that  he  too  was  a  humble  workingman,  earning  his 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  therefore  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  the  "common  people." 

On  a  certain  day  Colonel  Taylor  and  Mr.  Lincoln  were 
to  speak  at  the  same  political  meeting.  A  great  many 
farmers  were  there,  eager  to  hear  the  questions  of  the  day 
discussed.  A  few  of  them  were  Whigs ;  but  most  were 
Democrats,  and  "  Old  Hickory  "  was  their  idol. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  coarse  jeans;  his 
coat  was  too  large,  his  trousers  were  too  short,  his  blue 
"  hickory  "  shirt  had  neither  collar  nor  cuffs,  his  cowhide 
boots  were  strangers  to  polish.  Colonel  Taylor,  with  his 
linen  duster  buttoned  closely  around  him,  also  appeared  to 
be  a  very  plain  man  indeed. 

The  colonel  spoke  first.  He  began  by  praising  the  wis- 
dom of  President  Jackson.  Then  he  spoke  briefly  of  the 
tariff  and  of  the  internal  improvements  and  of  the  great 


Rag  Barons  vs.  Sons  of  Toil  121 

things  which  the  Democratic  party  had  done  for  the  state 
of  Illinois.  As  he  enlarged  upon  this,  he  informed  the  lis- 
tening farmers  that  the  Democrats  —  of  whom  he  was  one 
of  the  humblest  —  were  the  very  "bone  and  sinew  of  the 
land  " ;  that  they  were  the  laborers,  the  producers ;  that 
they  were  the  plain  people,  the  "hard-handed  sons  of 
toil,"  the  despisers  of  luxury ;  and,  further,  that  they  were 
the  sole  promoters  of  national  prosperity.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  described  the  Whigs  as  the  "silk-stockinged 
gentry,"  the  bloated  aristocrats  with  "lily-white  hands" 
unused  to  labor,  the  "rag  barons"  who  fare  sumptuously 
at  the  expense  of  the  poor.  He  saw  that  his  words  were 
having  an  effect  upon  his  hearers.  He  waxed  very  elo- 
quent, and  in  his  wild  enthusiasm  made  the  most  violent 
gestures,  pacing  the  platform  and  sawing  the  air  with  his 
arms. 

At  the  very  climax  of  his  speech  a  sudden  movement 
loosed  the  buttons  from  his  worn  duster.  A  gust  of  wind 
blew  the  long  tails  apart  and  exposed  to  view  the  faultless 
attire  of  the  elegant  dandy  —  his  ruffled  shirt  front,  his  dia- 
mond studs,  and  his  gold  watch  chain  with  sparkling  pend- 
ants. Taylor  was  so  taken  aback  that  he  paused  in  his 
harangue,  and  before  he  could  say  another  word,  Lincoln 
arose  and  stepped  forward.  Pointing  to  the  finely  dressed 
colonel,  he  cried  out:  "Behold  the  hard-handed  son  of 
toil !  Look,  my  friends,  at  this  specimen  of  bone  and 
sinew."  Then,  standing  where  all  could  see  him,  he  laid 
his  great  bony  hands  upon  his  own  breast  and  said: 
"  But  here  is  your  rag  baron  with  the  lily-white  hands ! 
Here,   at  your   service,   is   one   of    your   silk-stockinged 


122  Abraham  Lincoln 

gentry !  Yes,  I  suppose  that  I  am  even  a  bloated  aristo- 
crat !  " 

He  needed  to  say  no  more.  The  crowd  burst  into  shouts 
of  laughter  and  applause.     He  had  won  the  day. 

The  colonel,  in  great  confusion,  retired  from  the  plat- 
form ;  and  it  was  many  a  day  before  he  heard  the  last  of 
the  "  rag  barons  "  and  the  "  hard-handed  sons  of  toil." 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  the  presidency  that  year 
was  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  had  been  Vice  President  dur- 
ing Jackson's  second  term.  His  supporters  were  assured 
of  his  fitness  for  the  office  by  his  declaration  that  he  would 
"follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  predecessor."  The  Whigs 
very  foolishly  divided  their  votes  among  four  candidates, 
and  of  course  were  badly  beaten.  The  election  again 
placed  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats,  and  it 
was  settled  that  "  Old  Hickory's  "  policy  would  control  the 
government  for  at  least  four  years  longer. 

In  some  of  the  state  and  local  elections,  however,  the 
Democrats  suffered  great  losses,  and  this  encouraged  the 
Whigs  to  persevere  in  their  opposition. 

Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  was  entitled  to  send  nine 
delegates  to  the  state  legislature  — two  senators  and  seven 
representatives.  When  the  election  came  off,  it  was  found 
that  the  nine  chosen  were  all  Whigs;  and  of  these,  Mr. 
Lincoln  received  a  higher  number  of  votes  than  any  other 
candidate.  A  very  odd  thing  about  this  delegation  was 
that  each  man  was  more  than  six  feet  in  height.  They 
were  nicknamed  the  "  Long  Nine  ";  and  Lincoln,  because 
he  was  the  tallest  of  all,  was  called  the  "  Sangamon  Chief." 


An  Attorney  at  Law  1 23 

IV.     AN   ATTORNEY   AT    LAW 

When  winter  came  and  the  legislature  met  again  at 
Vandaha,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  his  old  seat.  He  was 
looked  upon  now  as  one  of  the  leaders  among  the 
Whigs,  and  there  were  few  more  active  members 
in  the  lower  house  of  lawmakers.  If  all  the  laws  which  he 
advocated  had  been  passed,  the  state  would  soon  have  been 
bankrupt. 

The  people  of  his  county  had  said,  "  Vote  for  a  general 
system  of  pubhc  improvements,"  and  he  took  them  at  their 
word.  He  voted  for  railroads  where  there  could  be  neither 
freight  nor  passengers,  and  for  public  highways  where 
there  was  no  one  to  travel  them ;  and  he  suggested  the 
digging  of  a  ship  canal  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the 
Mississippi  along  the  same  route  that  is  now  traversed  by 
the  great  Drainage  Canal  of  Chicago.  His  object  in  sup- 
porting these  measures  was  to  increase  and  develop  the 
trade  of  the  state,  and  thus  bring  capital  into  it  and  tempt 
enterprising  men  to  become  its  citizens. 

It  had  been  provided  by  law  that  the  legislature  should, 
at  the  proper  time,  select  some  permanent  place  for  the 
seat  of  government  —  a  place  as  convenient  as  might  be  to 
all  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  state.  This  duty  devolved 
upon  the  legislature  of  1 837-1 838.  Vandalia  was  but  a  little 
village,  not  easy  of  access,  and  far  from  the  center  of  the 
state.  Everybody  knew  that  it  could  not  remain  the  capi- 
tal. The  Long  Nine  of  Sangamon  proposed  that  Spring- 
field should  be  the  favored  place.  They  chose  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  manage  the  project  in  the  legislature;  and  such 


124  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

was  his  influence  with  the  other  members  that  the  meas- 
ure was  carried. 

The  people  of  Sangamon  County  were  delighted  with 
what  had  been  done.  Many  other  towns  had  aspired  to 
become  the  capital;  and  but  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  energy  and 
good  management,  Springfield  would  hardly  have  won  the 
prize.  When  the  Long  Nine  returned  home  at  the  close 
of  the  legislature,  the  citizens  of  Springfield  gave  them  a 
public  welcome  and  entertained  them  at  a  banquet. 

Among  the  toasts  given  at  this  banquet  was  one  in 
honor  of  Abraham  Lincoln  :  "  He  has  fulfilled  the  expecta- 
tions of  his  friends,  and  disappointed  the  hopes  of  his 
enemies."  This  was  no  doubt  pleasing  to  him,  but  it  was 
not  just  what  he  wanted  at  that  time.  It  did  not  answer  a 
question  that  was  causing  him  great  uneasiness. 

That  question  was.  What  should  he  do  next.? 

He  was  now  twenty-eight  years  old.  He  had  not  yet 
begun,  except  in  a  very  small  way,  the  practice  of  the  pro- 
fession for  which  he  had  been  so  long  trying  to  prepare 
himself.  He  was  in  debt.  He  was  discouraged,  and  felt 
that  he  had  not  yet  made  any  real  start  in  hfe.  Should  he 
return  to  the  dead  village  of  New  Salem,  and  again  earn 
his  support  by  surveying  farms  and  doing  odd  jobs  for  his 
neighbors } 

William  Butler,  one  of  the  citizens  who  had  been  most 
anxious  to  have  the  capital  removed  to  Springfield,  noticed 
the  young  man's  dejection. 

"  Lincoln,"  he  said,  "  now  that  the  legislature  has 
adjourned,  what  are    you  going  to  do  for  a  living  ? " 

"  I  really  don't  know,"  was  the  answer.     "  If   I  could 


An  Attorney  at  Law  1 25 

afford  it,  I  should  like  to  make  my  home  in  Springfield 
and  begin  the  practice  of  law." 

"And  why  not  afford  it?"  said  Mr.  Butler.  "You 
shall  come  to  my  house,  and  make  your  home  with  me  as 
long  as  you  please." 

That  was  indeed  a  generous  offer  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Butler.  Abraham  Lincoln  knew  that  it  was  sincere,  and 
he  accepted  it,  feeling  more  grateful  than  words  could 
express. 

In  the  same  year,  therefore,  that  Springfield  was  chosen 
as  the  permanent  capital  of  the  state,  it  was  honored  by 
becoming  the  home  of  the  man  that  was  finally  to  be  its 
most  illustrious  citizen. 

During  the  next  three  or  four  years,  Mr.  Lincoln  took 
his  meals  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Butler ;  but  he  lodged  in  a 
very  plain  little  room  which  he  shared  with  a  young 
Kentucky  merchant  named  Joshua  Speed. 

Springfield  was  at  that  time  a  mere  village  of  straggling 
wooden  houses,  most  of  which  were  only  one  story  in 
height.  The  streets  were  wastes  of  black  dust  in  dry 
weather,  and  sloughs  of  blacker  mud  in  wet  weather. 
There  were  no  sidewalks,  and  the  only  crossings  were 
those  made  by  throwing  blocks  of  wood  into  the  roadway. 

In  the  big  county  of  Sangamon,  from  which  several 
other  counties  have  since  been  carved,  there  were  about 
eighteen  thousand  people ;  and  of  these,  not  one  tenth 
were  residents  of  the  new  state  capital.  Many  of  the 
people  had  come  from  Kentucky,  and  among  the  better 
class  much  attention  was  paid  to  social  matters  and  to  dress, 


126 


Abraham  Lincoln 


and  (as  Lincoln  himself  quaintly  said)  there  was  "  a  good 
deal  of  flourishing  about  in  carriages." 

The  rude  customs  of  pioneer  days,  however,  had  not 
entirely  disappeared.     It  was  still  not  uncommon  to  see 

men  on  the  street 
clad  in  buckskin 
breeches  and 
shirts  of  linsey- 
woolsey,  with 
deerskin  mocca- 
sins on  their 
feet  and  carrying 
hunting  knives  in 
their  belts.  The 
women  on  the 
farms  dressed 
very  simply  in 
homespun  frocks ; 
they  wore  calico 
sunbonnets  to 
church ;  and  they 
thought  nothing 
of  going  bare- 
footed during  the 
warm  seasons  of  the  year.  Throughout  the  country  there 
was  a  lingering  prejudice  against  the  finery  of  the  "  city 
folks,"  and  many  an  honest  farmer  thought  that  he  saw 
in  the  growing  luxury  of  the  times  the  causes  that  would 
in  time  bring  dire  disaster  to  the  state  and  nation. 

It  is  very  possible  that  the  rough  clothing  which  Mr. 


Law  Office  of  Stuart  &  Lincoln,  upstairs 


Hoxv  Lincoln  rode  the  Circuit  127 

Lincoln  wore,  his  toil-hardened  hands,  and  his  simple 
country  manners,  had  much  to  do  with  his  early  popularity 
in  Sangamon  County.  But  it  was  his  sterling  good  sense, 
his  inborn  kindness  of  heart,  and  his  native  qualities  as 
a  leader  that  won  for  him  the  esteem  of  the  intelligent 
people  of  Illinois. 

He  had  scarcely  become  settled  in  Springfield  before 
Major  John  T.  Stuart,  the  lawyer  who  had  lent  him  books 
and  helped  him  in  his  studies,  asked  him  to  become  his 
partner.  And  so,  in  a  cramped  and  dusty  little  office 
overlooking  the  main  street  of  the  village,  he  established 
himself  as  the  junior  member  of  the  firm  of 


STUART    &    LINCOLN 
Attorneys-at-Law 


V.     HOW    LINCOLN    RODE   THE   CIRCUIT 

Mr.  Stuart  was  at  that  time  very  deeply  engaged  in 
politics,  for  it  was  the  ambition  of  his  life  to  be  elected  to 
Congress.  He  had  been  a  candidate  at  the  last 
election,  and  had  been  defeated.  He  was  now 
laying  his  wires  for  the  next  election,  and  did  not  take  much 
interest  in  the  practice  of  law.  It  followed,  therefore,  that 
most  of  the  business  of  the  firm  was  done  by  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

But  there  was  not  a  great  deal  to  be  done,  and  so  there 
was  plenty  of  time  for  study  —  which  was  just  what  Mr, 


128  AbraJiavi  Lincoln 

Lincoln  needed.  There  were  also  many  occasions  for  dis- 
cussing the  political  questions  of  the  day,  and  much  leisure 
for  the  telling  of  droll  stories  and  the  entertainment  of 
idle  friends.  To  all  these  duties  and  opportunities,  Lin- 
coln applied  himself  with  the  same  honest  energy  that  had 
made  him  a  good  rail  splitter  and  a  successful  surveyor. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  he  had  retired  from  the  leg- 
islature. He  was  reelected  in  1838  and  again  in  1840, 
thus  serving  eight  years  in  that  body.  But  the  sessions 
each  year  were  short,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  managed  to  attend 
them  without  neglecting  his  work  as  an  attorney. 

Sometimes  this  work  required  his  attendance  at  court  in 
another  county ;  and  it  often  became  necessary  to  follow 
the  judge  to  several  places  in  his  judicial  district.  This 
was  called  "riding  the  circuit,"  and  in  those  early  times  it 
was  a  regular  part  of  every  lawyer's  business. 

The  courthouses  were  rude  affairs,  often  built  of  logs 
and  almost  as  comfortless  as  barns.  But  whenever  court 
was  in  session  at  any  one  of  them,  the  people  flocked  to 
it  from  all  the  country  round ;  and  the  courtroom  was 
crowded  with  interested  listeners.  Thus  it  was,  that  even 
the  most  illiterate  farmers  came  to  have  a  fair  knowledge 
of  the  foundation  principles  of  law.  The  county  courts 
were,  in  one  sense  of  the  word,  schools  where  good  citizen- 
ship was  taught. 

For  twenty-one  years  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  capacity  of 
attorney,  attended  these  courts ;  ^  and  within  that  time  he 

^  His  partnership  with  Mr.  Stuart  continued  only  two  or  three  years.  He 
then  formed  a  connection  with  Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan,  which  lasted 
scarcely  as  long.     In  1843  he  entered  into  partnership  with  a  young  lawyer, 


Hotv  Lincobi  rode  the  Circuit  129 

fiad  the  management  of  many  important  cases.  He 
was  by  no  means  a  learned  lawyer.  How  could  he  be, 
having  had  no  teachers  and  none  of  the  usual  opportuni- 
ties ?  But  he  was  well  liked  by  his  fellow-lawyers ;  he 
was  respected  by  the  judges  on  the  bench;  and  he  knew 
very  well  how  to  win  the  sympathies  of  juries.  In  that 
new  country  the  cases  that  came  before  the  courts  were, 
for  the  most  part,  of  a  very  simple  character ;  they  re- 
quired no  fine  scholarship  to  discover  all  their  points. 
There  were  no  vast,  intricate  problems  to  be  solved,  such 
as  now  require  legal  talent  of  the  highest  order.  And  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  seldom  on  the  wrong  side  of  a  case.  His 
conscience  would  not  permit  him  to  support  a  cause  which 
he  believed  to  be  unjust,  or  to  defend  a  person  whom  he 
knew  to  be  guilty. 

Those  were  great  times  for  the  lawyers  in  that  Western 
country.  While  following  the  judge  on  his  circuit,  they 
were  often  obliged  to  go  long  distances  in  all  sorts  of 
weather.  Sometimes  they  rode  on  horseback,  with  saddle- 
bags dangling  on  either  side.  Sometimes,  when  fees  had 
not  been  plentiful,  they  trudged  on  foot  along  grassy  by- 
paths or  through  the  black  mud  of  the  prairie  roads. 
Usually,  when  going  from  county  seat  to  county  seat,  sev- 
eral lawyers  would  travel  in  company.  No  matter  how 
bitterly  they  might  oppose  one  another  in  the  courts,  they 
were  always  kind,  jovial  companions  on  the  road. 

There  were  no  bridges  over  the  prairie  streams,  and  these, 
although  dry  in  summer,  were  often  foaming  torrents  in 

William  H.  Herndon,  and  the  two  remained  together  until  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
elected  President. 

LINCOLN — 9 


130  AbraJiavi  Lincobt 

the  sprin<;.  Tiie  only  way  to  cross  them  at  such  times, 
was  by  finding  the  shallowest  places  and  fording.  The 
lawyers  of  Sangamon  County  when  "  riding  the  circuit," 
often  found  their  way  impeded  by  one  of  these  streams. 
Then  Abraham  Lincoln,  having  the  longest  legs,  was  sent 
forward  to  find  how  deep  the  water  was.  He  would  take 
off  his  boots,  roll  up  his  trousers,  and  wade  boldly  in,  look- 
ing for  a  good  fording  place.  When  he  had  found  it,  he 
would  kindly  help  the  rest  of  the  party  across  —  showing 
them  where  to  step,  and  sometimes  giving  the  smaller 
ones  a  generous  lift  with  his  strong  arms. 

One  summer  day  several  lawyers  were  returning  to 
Springfield  from  a  neighboring  county  seat,  where  they 
had  been  attending  court.  They  were  riding  on  horse- 
back, along  a  narrow  wagon  way  that  was  bordered  on 
either  side  by  a  growth  of  underwoods,  such  as  hawthorn 
bushes  and  wild  plum  trees.  When  nearly  through  the 
thicket,  they  came  to  a  brook,  where  they  stopped  to  let 
their  horses  drink.  Then  it  was  noticed  that  one  of  their 
number  was  missing. 

"  Where  is  Lincoln  }  "  they  asked. 

The  man  who  had  been  riding  with  him  said  that  he 
had  stopped  at  some  distance  back  in  order  to  pick  up 
some  young  birds  that  the  wind  had  blown  from  their 
nest.  No  doubt  he  was  hunting  the  nest,  to  put  them  into 
it  again. 

They  rode  on  slowly,  and  by  and  by  Lincoln  overtook 
them. 

"  Well,  Abe,  did  you  find  that  bird's  nest .?  " 

"  I  did,"  he  answered;  "although  it  was  no  easy  thing 


A   Sdrrhig  Caiiipaign  131 

to  get  at.  1  could  not  have  slept  to-night  if  I  had  left  those 
poor  creatures  on  the  ground  and  not  restored  them  to 
their  mother." 

Think  of  his  great,  sturdy  frame,  and  then  -of  his  gentle- 
ness of  heart  —  of  his  tenderness  for  all  things  weak  and 
helpless.  It  was  this  very  tenderness  and  sympathy  that 
made  him  the  noble  man  that  he  was.  It  was  his  gentle- 
ness that  afterward  endeared  him  to  multitudes  of  his 
fellow-beings. 

VI.     A   STIRRING  CAMPAIGN 

The  years  passed  swiftly  now,  and  the  time  soon  came 

for  another  presidential    election.     The  Democrats,  as  a 

matter  of  course,  renominated  Martin  Van  Buren. 

1840 
The  Whigs  nominated  William   Henry  Harrison 

of    Ohio    for   President,  and  John  Tyler  of  Virginia  for 

Vice  President. 

The  Democrats  declared  themselves  opposed  to  any 
system  that  would  favor  the  industries  of  one  section  of 
the  country  at  the  expense  of  another  section  ;  and  they 
asserted  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  interfere  with  the 
practice  of  slaveholding  in  any  of  the  states.  The  Whigs 
made  no  declaration  of  principles.  They  aimed  only  at 
the  overthrow  of  the  Democratic  party  and  the  defeat  of 
Martin  Van  Buren. 

The  campaign  was  the  most  remarkable  that  had  ever 
been  known.  Somebody  had  ridiculed  General  Harrison 
by  saying  that  he  lived  in  a  log  cabin  and  that  all  he 
wanted  was  a  small  pension  from  the  government  and  a 


15* 


Lsmrg&t 


"5-    ipKHlTtl^ 


^:=in<ii.a  Hsr  trpiiie  pZEEI  TS'  tirr  fait  tfeffit  HsiliSfiBtt  was  2.  ^B2I1> 


m,  and  evesybufiij  ^b3s  wdkxmse  t&  hesz 


af  it  xr^i   -aiigd. 


A   Stirring  Campaign  133 

was  long  remembered  as  a  time  of  intense  excitement, 
especially  in  the  West. 

All  summer  long  Abraham  Lincoln  was  busy  making 
speeches  for  the  Whig  party,  for  General  Harrison,  and 
for  himself  —  for  he  was  again  a  candidate  for  the  legisla- 
ture. General  Harrison  had  once  defeated  the  Indians  in 
a  fierce  battle  near  Tippecanoe  in  Indiana.  He  was  there- 
fore often  called  "Old  Tippecanoe,"  and  the  rallying  cry 
of  his  party  was  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too  !  " 

Election  day  came,  and  Harrison  was  chosen  President 
by  a  very  large  majority.  The  Whigs  were  almost  every- 
where victorious.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  for  the  fourth  time.  Jacksonian  democracy 
became,  for  the  time  being,  a  thing  of  the  past.^ 

The  contest  between  the  two  great  parties  had  been  so 
full  of  interest  that  many  people  did  not  even  hear  of  a 
third  party  which  came  into  notice  for  the  first  time  during 
the  campaign  of  1840.  It  was  a  party  which  boldly  took 
up  as  an  issue  the  very  question  which  the  other  parties 
were  an.xious  to  say  nothing  about  —  the  question  of  slavery. 
Both  Whigs  and  Democrats  claimed  that  any  discussion  of 
that  subject  was  unwise  and  should  be  avoided. 

1  On  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  Presirlent  Harrison  was  inauguratefl,  and  the 
Whigs  looked  forward  to  at  least  four  years  of  supremacy  in  the  government  of 
the  United  States.  But  their  hopes  were  soon  dashed  to  the  ground.  Just  one 
month  after  his  inauguration  the  President  died.  The  Vice  President,  John 
Tyler,  who  succeeded  him,  was  a  .Southern  Whig —  a  follower  of  John  C.  Cal 
houn  —  who  had  l>ut  little  sympathy  with  the  majority  of  the  party.  He  was 
soon  in  ojjcn  disagreement  with  the  men  who  had  elected  liim.  The  Whig 
lca<ltrs  descrteil  him;  and  before  a  year  had  passed  he  found  himself  obliged 
to  lean  upon  the  Democrats  for  support. 


134 


Abraham  Lincoln 


There  were  a  few  determined  persons,  however,  who  be- 
lieved that  slavery  was  not  only  a  great  moral  evil  but  that 
it  was  also  a  constant  menace  to  the  free  institutions  of  our 
country.  Hated  as  fanatics  both  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South,  these  people  grew  stronger  in  numbers  and  at  length 
determined  to  organize  themselves  into  a  pohtical  party. 
They  called  their  organization  the  Liberty  party  —  although 
others  called  them  by  the  despised  name  of  Abohtionists  — 

and  they  nominated  James  G. 
Birney  as  their  candidate  for 
President.  Of  course  Mr. 
Birney  did  not  carry  a  single 
state  nor  get  a  single  electoral 
vote  —  nobody  expected  it.  But 
his  mere  nomination  hastened 
the  day  when  the  question  of 
slavery  would  become  the  fore- 
most of  all  political  issues. 

We  know  what  young  Lincoln 
thought  of  slavery  when  at 
the  auction  in  New  Orleans  he  saw  men  and  women  sold 
to  the  highest  bidder.  But  he  was  not  an  Abolitionist :  he 
was  opposed  to  any  interference  with  slavery,  for  he  be- 
lieved that  that  would  make  matters  worse  instead  of  better. 
Thousands  of  the  most  earnest  friends  of  the  negro  believed 
the  same.  Slavery,  in  their  opinion,  was  an  incurable  evil ; 
and  they  said,  "  Since  it  must  be  endured,  let  us  endure  it 

patiently." 

And  now,  to  understand  clearly  the  great  work  that  lay 
before  Mr.  Lincoln  —  all  undreamed  of  as  yet  —  let  us  take 


Lincoln's  Office  Chair 


Master  and  Slave  135 

a  more  careful  view  of  this  subject.  While  Abraham  Lin- 
coln is  entertaining  clients  in  his  dingy  office,  or  riding  the 
circuit  with  his  brother  attorneys,  or  making  stump  speeches 
in  support  of  his  chosen  party,  let  us  leave  him  awhile  and 
learn  something  of  the  history  of  the  so-called  institution 
of  slavery.  Let  us  find  out,  if  we  can,  how  it  happened 
that  human  bondage  existed  so  long  in  a  nation  which,  to 
use  Mr.  Lincoln's  words,  "was  conceived  in  liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal." 

VII.     MASTER   AND   SLAVE 

The  earliest  people  of  whom  we  have  any  account  kept 
slaves.  All  the  great  nations  that  we  read  about  in  ancient 
history  were  slaveholding  nations.  Even  at  the  present 
time  in  barbarous  and  half-civilized  countries  there  are 
many  slaves.  It  was  not  until  within  the  memory  of  men 
now  living  that  the  majority  of  enlightened  people  began  to 
think  of  human  bondage  as  unwise  and  unjust. 

Our  forefathers  for  many  generations  regarded  negroes 
and  Indians  as  inferior  beings  having  no  rights,  and  there- 
fore fit  only  to  serve  those  who  had  the  mastery  over  them. 

The  first  negro  slaves  in  this  country  were  brought  to 
Virginia  by  a  Dutch  sailing  vessel  in  16 19.  There  were 
only  twenty  of  them.  They  were  black  savages,  but  lately 
from  Africa  —  half-naked,  brutish,  repulsive.  The  planters 
on  the  James  River  were  not  eager  to  buy  them  —  they 
doubted  if  such  fellows  would  be  profitable  ;  but  the  Dutch 
traders  offered  them  cheap  —  threatened  to  throw  them 
overboard  if  not  bought  —  and  they  were  taken. 


136  Abraham  Lincoln 

From  this  small  beginning,  negro  slavery  gradually 
spread  into  all  the  colonies  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the 
South.  It  was  only  in  Georgia  that  human  bondage  was 
forbidden  by  law.  "This  colony,"  said  its  founder,  "is 
established  for  the  benefit  of  free  white  laboring  men. 
Free  labor  can  never  prosper  where  there  are  slaves." 
But  the  early  settlers  in  that  colony  believed  it  would  be 
much  pleasanter  to  have  negroes  do  their  work  than  do  it 
themselves.  They  openly  defied  the  law  and  went  into  the 
business  of  slave  trading  and  slaveholding  as  though  it 
had  never  been  forbidden.  Within  less  than  twenty  years 
the  law  was  repealed. 

While  but  few  of  the  American  colonists  saw  any 
harm  in  slavery,  there  were  many  who  thought  that  no 
more  negroes  should  be  brought  from  Africa.  In  Virginia 
an  effort  was  made  to  stop  the  bringing  in  of  more  slaves; 
but  many  Englishmen  were  growing  rich  through  the  trade 
in  negroes,  and  the  king  and  parliament  declared  that  the 
colonists  should  not  meddle  in  the  matter. 

In  most  of  the  Northern  colonies  slavery  proved  to  be 
unprofitable.  Little  by  little  the  people  ceased  to  care  for 
an  institution  which  was  plainly  a  hindrance  to  general 
prosperity.  And  yet  it  was  not  until  after  the  beginning 
of  the  Rev61utionary  War  that  any  steps  were  taken  to  do 
away  with  negro  bondage. 

Soon  after  our  country  had  gained  its  independence  from 
Great  Britain,  however,  the  Northern  states  began  to  make 
an  end  of  the  unprofitable  and  troublesome  institution. 
New  Hampshire  led  the  way.  It  was  followed  by  Penn- 
sylvania, Massachusetts,  New  Jersey.       Soon    in   all  the 


Master  and  Slave  137 

states  north  of  Delaware  the  negroes  had  been  given  their 
freedom.  This  was  not  because  the  people  had  come  to 
look  upon  slavery  as  a  great  wrong,  but  because  it  was 
harmful  to  the  interests  of  the  large  class  of  white  persons 
who  were  obliged  to  work  for  their  living. 

In  the  South  things  were  different.  In  the  tobacco 
fields  and  in  the  regions  where  rice  and  indigo  were  culti- 
vated, slavery  was  profitable.  In  the  stifling  climate 
among  the  lowlands  of  the  Carolinas,  the  savage  blacks 
worked  and  flourished  where  white  laborers  would  have 
perished.  In  Virginia  and  Maryland  there  were  large 
plantations  that  could  not  exist  without  the  labor  of  slaves. 
In  these  states  slavery  seemed  to  be  a  necessity. 

And  yet  there  were  many  men  in  the  South  who  saw 
the  dangers  into  which  the  country  was  surely  being  led. 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Patrick  Henry  —  great 
Virginians  all  —  were  slaveholders,  and  yet  they  would 
gladly  have  seen  slavery  abolished.  Jefferson  wrote  and 
spoke  against  it. 

Very  soon  after  the  states  had  become  independent  of 
Great  Britain,  it  became  necessary  for  Congress  to  make 
laws  for  the  new  wild  territory  between  the  Ohio  River 
and  the  Great  Lakes.  From  this  region,  then  a  wilder- 
ness of  woods  and  prairies,  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  have  since  been  formed. 

But  its  great  resources  were  then  unknown.  Thomas 
Jefferson  and  some  other  far-sighted  statesmen  believed 
that  when  it  was  opened  for  settlement,  people  would  flock 
thither  and  great  commonwealths  would  be  formed  equal 


138  Abraham  Lincoln 

in  importance  to  any  on  the  Atlantic  coast.     Should  these 
new  states  be  slave  states  ? 

Congress  answered  this  question.  In  an  ordinance  for 
the  government  of  the  territory  it  declared  that  slavery 
should  be  forever  excluded  from  that  portion  of  our  coun- 
try. Men  from  the  South  united  with  men  from  the  North 
in  drafting  and  passing  this  law  —  a  law  that  was  to  have 
far  greater  influence  upon  the  history  of  the  nation  than 
any  one  could  then  foresee. 

South  of  the  Ohio  another  course  was  taken,  Kentucky 
was  set  off  from  Virginia,  and  slaves  were  held  there  with- 
out question  or  dispute.  North  Carolina  gave  up  her  claims 
to  Tennessee  with  the  express  agreement  that  slavery 
therein  should  not  be  forbidden  or  meddled  with.  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi,  Louisiana — all  were  settled  by  slave- 
holders, who  of  course  carried  their  slaves  with  them  to 
their  new  homes. 

Thus,  from  the  very  first,  the  Ohio  River  formed  the 
dividing  line  between  freedom    and  slavery  in  the  West. 

The  people  of  the  South  had  always  been  accustomed  to 
slavery.  Some  saw  its  dangers  and  tried  to  avoid  them  by 
dealing  wisely  and  kindly  with  the  negroes,  hoping  to 
postpone  the  evil  day  as  long  as  possible.  But  the  greater 
number  accepted  things  as  they  found  them,  and  did  not 
trouble  themselves  with  the  question  at  all. 

When  the  cotton  gin  was  invented,  and  the  cultivation 
of  cotton  became  the  chief  industry  of  the  South,  there 
was  a  general  demand  for  more  slaves.  Many  ships, 
owned  in  large  part  by  Northern  traders,  were  engaged  in 
bringing  black  savages  from  Africa  to  be  sold  to  the  South- 


Master  and  Slave  1 39 

ern  planters.  In  1808  this  trade  was  forbidden  by  law; 
but  the  call  for  laborers  in  the  great  cotton  fields  increased. 
With  each  passing  year  the  South  became  more  and  more 
dependent  upon  the  labor  of  slaves ;  with  each  passing 
year  the  interests  of  the  slaveholders  became  greater  and 
greater,  and  the  condition  of  the  blacks  in  bondage  became 
more  and  more  hopeless. 

Thus  the  South  grew  rich  through  the  labor  of  its 
slaves ;  and  the  North  looked  on  approvingly  and  also 
grew  rich.  And  everything  might  have  gone  on  peace- 
ably enough  had  it  not  been  for  the  growing  jealousy  be- 
tween the  two  sections. 

At  the  time  when  our  present  government  began  there 
were  seven  Northern  states  and  six  Southern  states.  Thus 
the  power  of  the  two  sections  was  quite  evenly  divided 
in  Congress.  From  that  time  it  was  the  policy  of  our 
statesmen  to  prevent  either  section  from  becoming  much 
stronger  than  the  other.  To  do  this  there  came  to  be  a 
sort  of  silent  understanding  that  whenever  new  states  were 
admitted  to  the  Union,  a  slave  state  should  be  balanced 
against  a  free  state.  At  first,  Vermont,  a  free  state,  was 
offset  by  Kentucky,  a  slave  state.  Then  the  admission  of 
Tennessee  was  followed  by  that  of  Ohio  ;  Louisiana  pre- 
ceded Indiana;  and  Mississippi  was  paired  with  Illinois, 

The  first  trouble  occurred  when    Missouri  applied    for 
admission  into  the  Union.      There  were  at  that  time  no 
states  west  of  the  Mississippi.     The  greater  part 
of  the  vast  region  drained  by  the  Missouri  River 
was  unsettled  and  unknown.     Should  slavery  be  permitted 


t40  AbraJiam  Lijicoln 

in  Missouri  and  the  other  states  afterward  to  be  formed 
there  ? 

There  were  men  in  the  North  who  wished  Congress  to 
restrict  slavery  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
There  were  others  who  claimed  that  Congress  had  no  voice 
in  the  matter,  and  that  the  people  of  Missouri  must  decide 
the  question  for  themselves.  But  Maine  was  about  to  be 
admitted  as  a  free  state,  and  the  South  demanded  that 
the  next  state  must  belong  to  the  side  of  slaver3\ 

The  dispute  in  Congress  became  very  bitter,  and  there 
were  open  threats,  even  in  New  England,  of  breaking  up 
the  Union.  At  last,  however,  through  the  efforts  of  Henry 
Clay,  a  compromise  was  agreed  upon.  Maine  was  to  be 
admitted  as  a  free  state,  and  Missouri  as  a  slave  state  ;  and 
slavery  should  not  be  permitted  in  any  other  part  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  except  in  such  states  and 
territories  as  might  be  formed  south  of  the  parallel  of 
latitude  known  as  36°3o'. 

The  adoption  of  this  compromise  was  really  a  great 
victory  for  the  South.  It  not  only  brought  another  slave 
state  into  the  Union,  but  it  settled  all  disputes  as  to  whether 
slavery  might  not  be  carried  west  of  the  Mississippi  and 
also  whether  Congress  might  not  determine  the  question  of 
its  extension.  In  the  North,  even  those  who  did  not  be- 
lieve in  slavery  were  quite  well  satisfied  ;  for  this  compro- 
mise seemed  to  assure  freedom  to  much  the  larger  part  of 
the  great  West  from  which  future  states  might  be  formed. 

Thus  the  dispute  was  ended,  to  the  gratification  of  both 
parties.  The  slavery  question  disappeared  from  politics, 
and    both    Democrats   and  Whigs    carefully   shunned    all 


Master  and  Slave  14 1 

discussion  of  it.  The  slaveholding  power  controlled  the 
government.  For  many  years  every  official,  from  the 
President  down  to  the  humblest  village  postmaster,  was 
pledged  to  the  support  of  that  power.  The  churches  were 
dominated  by  it.  The  newspapers  dared  not  oppose  it. 
Even  the  schools  felt  its  influence,  and  no  text-book  could 
be  used  that  contained  selections  condemning  human 
bondage. 

In  December,  1833,  a  few  men  from  ten  different  states 
met  in  Philadelphia  and  organized  the  American  Anti- 
slavery  Society.  The  members  of  this  society  were  united 
in  the  determination  to  do  away  with  an  institution  which 
they  beheved  was  wrong  and  a  menace  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  country.  Only  a  few  of  the  most  unreasoning  were 
in  favor  of  any  kind  of  violence.  All  urged  the  use  of 
moral  influences.  They  made  speeches,  they  wrote  books, 
they  published  pamphlets  —  all  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
the  question  before  the  people.  Prominent  among  their 
leaders  were  Wendell  Phillips,  William  Lloyd  Garrison, 
and  John  G.  Whittier. 

The  doings  of  this  society  alarmed  the  slaveholders  of 
the  South.  They  said  that  the  antislavery  people  told 
falsehoods  and  made  it  appear  that  slavery  was  a  much 
greater  evil  than  it  really  wa's.  They  believed  that  it  was 
the  purpose  of  the  society  to  persuade  the  slaves  to  rise 
against  their  masters  and  win  their  freedom  by  bloodshed 
and  war. 

The  members  of  the  society  were  called  Abolitionists. 
They  were  hated  by  the  people  of  the  South  and  perse- 


142  Abraham  Lincoln 

cured  by  the  friends  of  slavery  in  the  North.  They  were 
mobbed  even  in  Boston,  "the  cradle  of  American  liberty." 
The  halls  in  which  they  were  advertised  to  speak  were 
burned.  The  presses  on  which  their  pamphlets  were 
printed  were  destroyed.  Their  books,  papers,  and  letters 
were  not  permitted  to  be  carried  in  the  United  States 
mails. 

But  the  society  went  on  with  its  work.  New  members 
were  added  to  it  every  year ;  and  every  year  the  slavery 
question  became  more  serious.  Finally,  as  we  have  seen, 
a  political  party  —  the  Liberty  Party  —  was  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  agitating  that  question. 

Nevertheless,  by  far  the  greater  number  of  thoughtful 
men  in  every  community  held  back  and  remained  quiet. 
They  said :  "  This  agitation  will  only  make  matters  worse. 
Since  slavery  is  with  us,  let  us  make  the  best  of  it.  All 
this  talk  about  doing  away  with  it  only  stirs  up  ill  feeUng. 
It  is  both  foolish  and  harmful." 

This  was  what  Abraham  Lincoln  thought.  When  the 
matter  was  brought  up  for  discussion  in  the  legislature  at 
Vandalia,  a  resolution  was  passed  denouncing  the  "  Aboli- 
tionists "  in  the  severest  terms.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  one 
other  of  the  Long  Nine  took  pains  to  put  their  opinions 
in  writing.  They  said  that  they  believed  "the  institution 
of  slavery  to  be  founded  on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy, 
but  that  the  promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tended 
rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils." 

Such  was  Lincoln's  first  public  utterance  on  the  great 
subject  which  was  fast  becoming  uppermost  in  the  mmds 
of  all  thoughtful  Americans. 


Love  and  Poverty 


143 


VIII.     LOVE    AND    POVERTY 


For  several  years  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  in  Springfield  was 
very  much  like  that  of  any  other  successful  Western 
lawyer.  He  attended  quietly  to  the  business  of  his  office, 
"  rode  the  circuit "  now  and  then,  took  an  active  part  m 


qNA    . 


'^-^^ 


The  Globe  Tavern 


politics,  and  did  but  very  little  that  distinguished  him  from 
the  common  plodder  in  his  profession. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-three  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Todd,    a   young   lady  from   Kentucky   who   was 
staying  with  friends  in    Springfield.      For    some 
time  after  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  lived  in  a 
little  old-fashioned  hotel  called  the  "  Globe  Tavern,"  pay- 


144  AbraJiani  Lincobi 

ing  four  dollars  a  week  for  room  and  board.  Two  or 
three  years  later  Mr.  Lincoln  built  a  small  but  comfort- 
able frame  house,  and  this  was  their  home  during  the  rest 
of  their  life  in  Springfield. 

From  the  humblest  of  conditions  Mr.  Lincoln  had  raised 
himself  to  an  honorable  place  among  his  fellow-men.  He 
had  won  moderate  success  as  a  lawyer ;  he  was  known  as 
an  able  politician ;  and  yet  he  was  what  the  world  calls 
a  poor  man.  But  Mrs.  Lincoln  said,  "  I  would  rather 
have  a  good  man,  with  bright  prospects  for  success  and 
power  and  fame,  than  marry  one  with  all  the  horses  and 
houses  and  gold  in  the  world." 

IX.     IN    RELATION   TO   TEXAS 

Another  presidential  campaign  was  approaching,  and  a 
question  of  the  utmost  importance  was  to  be  decided.  It 
was  this  :  "  Shall  Texas  be  annexed  to  the  United  States.''" 
The  Democrats  said,  "  Yes  "  ;  the  Whigs  said,  "  No  "  ;  the 
result  of  the  election  would  be  the  answer  of  the  country 
at  large. 

Texas,  as  a  part  of  Mexico,  had  belonged  to  Spain.  In 
1822  Mexico  had  freed  herself  from  Spanish  control  and 
become  an  independent  nation.  Texas  was  then  a  Mexi- 
can territory,  wild,  uncultivated,  and  for  the  most  part 
unexplored.  It  contained  one  old  Spanish  village  —  San 
Antonio  de  Bexar  —  and  perhaps  two  or  three  other  feeble 
settlements. 

The  Mexicans  did  not  seem  to  think  it  worth  colonizing. 
But  so  fertile  a  region  could  not  longremain  hidden  from 


/;/  Relation  to   Texas  145 

American  eyes.  Moses  Austin,  a  Connecticut  Yankee, 
was  one  of  the  first  to  call  attention  to  it.  He  believed 
that  the  neglected  territory  east  of  the  Rio  Grande  would 
some  time  become  the  seat  of  wealth  and  power.  He  was 
so  sure  of  it  that  he  secured  from  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment a  grant  of  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  valley  of  the 
Colorado.  Before  he  could  do  more,  however,  he  died, 
and  his  son  Stephen  took  up  the  enterprise. 

Stephen  Austin  founded  several  colonies  of  Americans 
on  the  lands  which  his  father  had  secured.  Other  Ameri- 
cans came  and  settled  at  different  places  in  the  territory. 
Southern  slaveholders  came  with  their  negroes.  Cotton 
plantations  were  started.  Cornfields  and  orchards  were 
planted.  From  the  very  beginning  it  was  the  feeling 
of  the  pioneers  that  they  were  founding,  not  a  Mexican 
province,  but  an  American  state. 

In  1836,  under  the  leadership  of  Sam  Houston  of  Ten- 
nessee, the  Texans  rebelled  against  Mexico.  They  set  up 
a  government  of  their  own  ;  and  they  showed  themselves 
to  be  so  earnest  and  able,  that  both  England  and  the 
United  States  recognized  Texas  as  an  independent 
republic. 

The  Texans,  however,  did  not  wish  to  remain  independ- 
ent. They  wanted  their  country  to  become  a  part  of  the 
United  States.  But  President  Van  Buren  was  a  cautious 
man,  and  not  in  favor  of  adding  more  territory  to  our  do- 
main. "This  country,"  said  the  thoughtful  statesmen  of 
the  time,  "  is  already  large  enough.  She  is  much  better 
off  without  Texas  than  with  her." 

And  so  the  question  of  annexation  was  put  off  from 

LINCOLN—  10 


146  Abraham  Lincoln 

year  to  year.  The  slaveholders  of  the  South  became 
more  and  more  anxious  to  bring  Texas  into  the  Union  : 
for  they  would  gain  thereby  not  only  a  great  cotton  state 
with  slavery  in  it,  but  two  senators  and  at  least  one  repre- 
sentative in  Congress.  It  would  offset  some  of  the  gains 
which  the  North  had  lately  made.  At  length  rumors  were 
set  afloat  that  the  English  were  planning  to  get  possession 
of  Texas  and  make  it  a  part  of  the  British  Empire.  This 
aroused  the  war  spirit  of  the  West,  and  the  cry  was  heard 
on  every  hand,  "  VVe  must  have  Texas  at  any  cost ! " 

X.     NATIONAL    POLITICS   IN    1844 

It  was  well  understood,  therefore,  that  the  election  of 
1844  would  settle  the  whole  question.  The  Democrats 
nominated  for  the  presidency  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee. 
The  Whigs  nominated  Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky.  Polk 
was  a  man  without  any  reputation  save  that  he  was  in 
favor  of  annexing  Texas,  no  matter  what  might  follow. 
Clay  had  been  known  for  half  a  lifetime  as  one  of  the 
wisest  of  American  statesmen ;  but  now,  very  unwisely, 
he  failed  to  speak  out  boldly  either  one  way  or  the 
other. 

No  man  worked  harder  during  that  campaign  than  did 
Abraham  Lincoln.  For  was  not  his  political  idol  the 
candidate  of  his  party .-'  He  was  named  as  one  of  the 
presidential  electors  in  Illinois.  He  traveled  over  the  state, 
making  speeches  in  behalf  of  his  favorite  statesman  and 
against  Texan  annexation.  He  visited  his  boyhood  home 
at  Pigeon  Creek  in  Indiana,  and  spoke  before  many  of  his 


Conte7ition  ivith  Mexico  147 

old  neighbors,  who  remembered  how,  in  his  youth,  he 
harangued  them  from  stumps  and  wood  piles. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  also  making 
speeches  in  the  Illinois  counties  and  doing  all  that  he 
could  to  insure  his  own  election  to  Congress  and  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Polk  to  the  presidency.  In  some  places 
speeches  were  made  by  both  Lincoln  and  Douglas ;  and 
it  was  hard  to  say  which  won  the  most  applause  or  was 
considered  the  more  eloquent  and  persuasive. 

The  result  of  the  election  might  have  been  foreseen,  but 
it  was  most  unexpected  to  the  friends  of  Henry  Clay  ;  to 
Abraham  Lincoln  it  seemed  a  bitter  personal  disappoint- 
ment.    James  K.  Polk  was  elected  by  a  large  majority. 

The  people  had  spoken  their  minds  about  Texas.  Con- 
gress was  free  to  act ;  and  without  waiting  for  Mr.  Polk  to 
take  his  seat,  a  resolution  was  passed  providing  for  annex- 
ation. One  of  the  last  acts  of  President  Tyler  was  to  sign 
that  resolution.  Before  the  end  of  another  year,  Texas 
was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  state. 


XI.     CONTENTION   WITH    MEXICO 

The  United  States  claimed  that  the  western  boundary 
of  Texas  was  the  Rio  Grande.  Mexico  contended  that 
it  was  the  Nueces  River,  several  miles  farther  east. 
The  country  between  the  two  rivers  was  for  the  most 
part  wild  and  barren.  It  had  no  inhabitants  ;  and  it  was 
thought  to  be  so  poor  and  worthless  that  nobody  would 
ever  wish  to  live  there.  But  still  it  was  worth  fighting  for, 
said  President  Polk. 


1^8  A  bra /lain  Lincoln 

General  Zachary  Taylor  was  in  Texas  with  a  part  of  the 
United  States  army.  A  small  body  of  Mexicans  were 
encamped  in  the  disputed  territory  on  this  side  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  It  was  expected  that  General  Taylor  would  move 
forward  and  drive  the  intruders  out.  But  he  knew  that  by 
so  doing  he  would  hasten  the  beginning  of  war  ;  and  he 
hesitated.  He  was  too  good  a  soldier  to  wish  for  war  ;  and 
he  did  all  that  he  could  to  keep  peace  with  his  Mexican 
neighbors. 

Nevertheless,  President  Polk,  in  his  office  at  Washing- 
ton, had  already  determined  upon  war.  He  commanded 
General  Taylor  to  march  across  the  disputed  territory  and 
take  possession  of  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
General  Taylor  had  no  choice  but  to  obey.  A  large  force 
of  Mexicans  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  to  drive  him  back. 
A  battle  was  fought  on  the  field  of  Palo  Alto.  The 
Mexicans  were  defeated,  and  with  great  loss  fled  back  into 
their  own  country. 

The  war  had  actually  begun.  General  Taylor  went  into 
it  now  with  a  determination  and  rude  energy  which  won 
for  him  the  nickname  of  "Rough  and  Ready."  He  saw 
that  it  was  the  quickest  way  to  bring  the  conflict  to  an 
end.  He  followed  the  Mexicans  across  the  river  and 
fought  them  on  their  own  ground.  Battle  after  battle  fol- 
lowed, but  victory  was  always  with  the  Americans. 

There  were  many  men,  both  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South,  who  believed  that  the  war  was  unjust  — that  Presi- 
dent Polk  had  forced  it  upon  Mexico,  and  that  its  object 
was  the  conquest  of  territory  from  our  weaker  neighbor. 
The  Whigs  as  a  party  had  voted  against  it.     But  now  that 


One   Term  in   Congress  149 

it  was  actually  going  on,  all  joined  in  supporting  it.  To 
aid  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  to  vote  supplies  for  the  army, 
to  pray  for  the  victory  of  American  arms,  were  acts  of 
patriotism  ;  and  the  Whigs  were  just  as  patriotic  as  the 
Democrats. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  try  to  follow  the  war 
through  its  long  succession  of  bloody  battles  and  American 
triumphs.  It  ended,  as  had  been  foreseen,  in  the  humili- 
ation and  defeat  of  Mexico.  The  ownership  of  the  land 
between  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Nueces  was  forever 
settled.  Much  more,  the  vast  region  now  comprising  New 
Mexico,  Utah,  Arizona,  Nevada,  CaHfornia,  and  a  part  of 
Colorado  was  transferred  to  the  United  States. 

The  war  had  been  brought  about  chiefly  by  the  politi- 
cians of  the  South  in  their  efforts  to  strengthen  the  slave 
power.  They  hoped  now  to  secure  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  all  the  new  territories  that  had  been  acquired  by  it. 
Mexico,  when  obliged  to  give  these  territories  up,  had 
asked  our  government  to  promise  that  no  slaves  should  be 
held  within  their  Hmits.  But  the  United  States  minister, 
who  acted  as  the  government's  agent,  refused.  "  If  these 
territories  were  covered  with  gold  a  foot  thick,"  he  said, 
"  and  if  they  were  then  offered  to  us  upon  the  single  con- 
dition that  slavery  should  be  excluded  therefrom,  I  would 
not  entertain  the  idea." 


XII.     ONE   TERM    IN    CONGRESS 

While  the  American  armies  were  marching  to  victory 
in  Mexico,  the  time  was  drawing  near  for  the  election  of 


150  Abraham  Lincoln 

a  new  Congress.  Of  the  several  Congressional  districts 
in  Illinois  there  was  only  one  in  which  the  Whigs  had 
anything  like  a  majority.  That  one  was  the 
Springfield  district,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
nominated  there  as  the  Whig  candidate.  The  Democrats 
nominated  Peter  Cartwright,  a  pioneer  Methodist  preacher 
who  had  been  well  known  in  the  district  since  its  earliest 
settlement. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  still  a  poor  man.  To  pay  his  expenses 
while  he  was  making  speeches  throughout  the  country  his 
Whig  friends  gave  him  a  purse  of  $200.  The  election 
came  off  in  August,  and  he  was  successful,  having  the 
largest  majority  ever  given  to  a  Whig  candidate  in  that 
district.  A  few  days  afterward  his  friends  were  surprised 
to  receive  a  letter  from  him  in  which  was  inclosed  $199.25. 
In  the  letter  he  said  :  "  I  have  ridden  my  own  horse.  My 
friends  have  entertained  me  at  night.  My  only  outlay 
has  been  seventy-five  cents,  for  some  cider  which  I  bought 
for  some  farm  hands." 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  seat  in  Congress,  he  found 
there  many  men  whose  names  are  now  famous  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  country. 

There  was  John  Quincy  Adams,  eighty  years  of  age, 
and  very  near  to  the  close  of  his  life,  who  had  served  the 
nation  as  its  sixth  President  and  had  since  been  in  Con- 
gress the  most  distinguished  champion  of  the  antislavery 
cause. 

There  was  the  scholarly  and  accomplished  Robert  C. 
Winthrop,  the  Speaker  of    the  House,  who    early  recog- 


One  Term  in  Co7igress  151 

nized  in  Mr.  Lincoln  a  shrewdness  and  sagacity  possessed 
by  few  other  men  of  the  time. 

There  was  Andrew  Johnson,  once  an  unlettered  tailor 
of  Tennessee,  but  now  one  of  her  most  active  politicians, 
and  destined  to  become  the  seventeenth  President  of  the 
United  States. 

There  was  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia,  the 
intellectual  giant  of  the  South,  who  in  later  years  would 
become,  against  his  better  judgment,  a  leader  of  the  foes  of 
the  Union,  and  the  Vice  President  of  the  Confederate  states. 

There  in  the  Senate  for  the  first  time,  was  Mr.  Lincoln's 
fellow-citizen  and  lifelong  rival,  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
soon  to  be  famous  as  the  "  Little  Giant "  of  the  democ- 
racy, and  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  the  nation. 

There,  too,  ■  approaching  the  end  of  his  career,  was 
Daniel  Webster  of  Massachusetts,  the  man  of  supreme 
intellect,  the  greatest  of  American  orators,  the  grandest 
of  American  statesmen. 

There,  of  about  the  same  age  as  Webster,  was  John  C. 
Calhoun,  stanchest  of  patriots  as  he  understood  patriot- 
ism, a  lover  of  the  Union,  but  loving  South  Carolina 
better,  the  defender  of  nullification,  the  first  among  the 
champions  of  the  South. 

There  was  John  A.  Dix,  antislavery  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  who,  thirteen  years  later  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  under  a  Democratic  President,  was  to  immor- 
talize himself  in  a  telegraphic  dispatch  :  "  If  any  07ie  attempts 
to  Jiaul  dozvn  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 

There,  on  the  eve  of  completing  his  thirty  years  in 
Congress,  was  Thomas   H.   Benton   of    Missouri,   duelist, 


152  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

statesman,  vigorous  advocate  of  the  Mexican  War,  and 
stern  opposer  of  the  foes  of  the  Union. 

There  was  John  P.  Hale  of  New  Hampshire,  elected 
to  Congress  as  a  Democrat,  and  3'et  one  of  the  most  fear- 
less enemies  of  slavery  and  of  the  annexation  of  Mexican 
territory. 

And  there,  fresh  from  the  battlefields  of  Mexico,  was 
Jefferson  Davis,  soldier,  cotton  planter,  and  rising  politi- 
cian, a  man  hitherto  but  little  known,  yet  destined  soon 
to  be  the  great  standard  bearer  of  the  slave  power  in 
America. 

Seldom  in  the  history  of  our  country,  perhaps  never, 
have  so  many  intellectual  giants  been  brought  together 
in  the  halls  of  Congress.  They  represented  every  shade 
of  political  opinion,  from  the  extremest  defender  of  slavery 
to  the  most  zealous  friend  of  universal  freedom.  Some 
had  already  achieved  fame ;  their  work  was  almost  done ; 
they  would  soon  belong  to  the  past.  Others  were  just 
entering  the  arena ;  the  race  for  them  was  still  to  be  run ; 
they  belonged  to  the  future. 

Into  this  company  of  notables  Abraham  Lincoln  entered 
with  the  confidence  of  one  who  knew  that  he  was  in  the 
right  place.  His  manners,  his  speech,  his  clothing,  all 
marked  him  as  a  man  from  the  new  West.  But  the  older 
members  of  Congress  were  not  slow  to  see  that  the  tall, 
ungainly  young  Whig  from  Ilhnois  was  a  person  of  no 
mean  ability. 

His  voice  was  heard  quite  often  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. He  was  more  active  than  is  usual  with  new 
members.     "  I    find   speaking  here   and  elsewhere   about 


One   Term  in   Congress 


153 


the  same  thing,"  he  wrote  home  to  his  friends.  "  I  was 
about  as  badly  scared,  and  no  more,  than  when  I  speak  in 
court." 

One  of  the  most  notable  things  that  he  did  was  to  in- 
troduce a  resolution  caliing  upon  the  President  to  give  an 
account  of  the  beginning  and 
progress  of  the  Mexican  War. 
He  supported  the  resolution  by 
a  speech,  which  was  so  pithy 
and  withal  so  sensible  and  un- 
answerable, that  it  won  for  him 
the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  smartest  debaters  in   Con- 


gress. 


Lincoln's  Inkstand  and  Pen 


Almost  every  day  during  his 
two  winters  in  Washington 
things  came  to  his  notice  that 
were  contrary  to  his  ideas  of 
right  and  of  justice,  and  made 
him  feel  ashamed  for  his  coun- 
try. Almost  within  the  shadow 
of  the  capitol,  he  saw  gangs  of  negroes  in  chains  driven 
through  the  streets  and  spurred  on  by  the  whips  of  merci- 
less slave  drivers.  He  saw  men,  women,  and  children  sold 
at  auction,  and  taken  by  force  to  the  wharves  or  the  rail- 
road station  to  be  shipped  to  the  cotton  fields  in  the  far 
South.  To  him  whose  heart  was  ever  stirred  with  pity 
for  the  humblest  creatures  in  distress,  these  sights  were 
very  painful.  His  pride,  also,  as  an  American  citizen,  was 
touched ;  for  in  the  capital  of  no  other  civilized  country  in 


154  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  world  could  such  scenes,  worthy  of  a  barbaric  age,  be 
witnessed. 

But  what  could  he  do?  He  still  believed  that  any 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  would  make  matters 
worse  instead  of  better.  No  man  was  more  strongly 
opposed  to  the  slave  system  than  he,  and  yet  he  would 
not  join  the  ranks  of  the  Abolitionists.  He  argued  that 
slavery  should  be  let  alone  in  the  states  where  it  existed 
and  the  people  wanted  it ;  but  that  in  the  capital,  which 
belonged  to  the  entire  nation,  it  ought  at  least  to  be  re- 
stricted. And  so,  in  the  end,  he  introduced  into  Congress 
a  bill  for  the  gradual  doing  away  of  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

The  bill  was  a  very  mild  one  —  so  mild  that  the  Aboli- 
tionists would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  members 
from  the  South  understood  it  to  be  an  antislavery  measure, 
and  refused  to  listen  to  it.  In  the  end  the  whole  matter 
was  allowed  to  drop,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  bill  was  never  even 
voted  upon. 

The  Mexican  War  had  produced  two  popular  heroes, 

General    Zachary    Taylor    and    General    Winfield    Scott. 

Both   of   these   men    had   been  opposed   to   the 
1 04-^ 

manner  in  which  President  Polk  forced  war  upon 

Mexico.     They  were  loyal  soldiers,  however,   and  when 

the  conflict  was  once  actually  begun,  they  gave  their  aid 

with  such  courageous  spirit  that  the  course  of  each  was 

an  unbroken  series  of  victories. 

To  the  Whigs  General  Taylor  seemed  an  ideal  candidate 

for  the  presidency.     Among  the  Whig  members  of  Con- 


One  Term  in  Congress  1 55 

gress  a  club  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about 
his  nomination  and  aiding  in  his  election.  Of  this  club 
there  were  few  more  active  members  than  Abraham  Lin- 
coln of  Illinois  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia. 
General  Taylor  was  a  blunt-spoken,  rough-mannered  sol- 
dier, with  but  few  of  the  qualities  of  a  great  statesman ; 
but  he  was  the  military  hero  of  the  hour,  and  the  man 
most  likely  to  win  the  votes  of  the  people. 

The  Democratic  party  nominated  Lewis  Cass  of  Michi- 
gan. Some  of  the  antislavery  Democrats  of  the  North 
formed  themselves  into  a  new  party,  called  the  Free-soil 
party,  and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren. 

The  members  of  the  Free-soil  party  were  not  all  Abolition- 
ists. They  did  not  oppose  slavery  itself,  but  they  opposed 
its  extension.  They  held  that  no  more  slave  states  should 
be  added  to  the  Union,  and  their  battle  cry  was  "  Free 
Soil,  Free  Labor,  and  Free  Speech."  In  their  ranks  were 
men  whose  names  have  since  become  famous  in  history : 
Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  renowned  as  an  orator 
and  fearless  champion  of  liberty ;  WilHam  Cullen  Bryant 
of  New  York,  America's  first  poet  and  most  distinguished 
journalist;  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio,  destined  to  become 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  ;  and  many  others. 

The  Whig  party  took  no  decided  stand  on  the  slavery 
question,  although  some  of  its  leaders  declared  that  it  was 
the  real  Free-soil  party. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  as  usual,  entered  into  the  campaign 
with  much  earnestness  and  enthusiasm.  He  delivered  a 
few  speeches  in  New  England  and  New  York,  where  his 
hearers  came  rather  to  see  and  be  amused  by  the  "  back- 


156  AbraJiani  Lincoln 

woods  orator  from  the  wild  West "  than  to  listen  to  his 
arguments.  He  then  returned  to  Illinois,  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  summer  in  urging  the  people  of  his  own 
state  to  support  the  Whig  candidates.  The  result  of  the 
election  was  very  pleasing  to  him,  for  General  Taylor  was 
the  successful  candidate. 


XIII.     LINCOLN    RETURNS    TO    PRIVATE    LIFE 

It   was    Mr.    Lincoln's    hope    that    the    new    President 

would    appreciate    his    services   to  the  party,  and    would 

appoint  him  to  a  good  office.      He  had  set  his 
1849 

heart  on  becoming  Commissioner  of  the  General 

Land  Office  at  Washington.  But,  when  Congress  ad- 
journed, and  he  applied  for  the  place,  he  was  disappointed 
to  find  that  it  had  been  promised  to  another. 

To  General  Taylor,  the  tall,  awkward  member  from 
Illinois  was  only  a  Western  politician  who  served  the 
party  in  his  own  state  and  would  be  satisfied  with  almost 
any  reward.  "  There  is  the  governorship  of  Oregon 
Territory,"  said  he  to  Lincoln ;  "  you  shall  have  the  ap- 
pointment to  that  place  if  you  wish  it." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  sure  that  he  wished  it.  Oregon 
seemed  at  that  time  to  be  almost  out  of  the  world.  It  was 
reached  only  by  a  long  journey,  in  boats  and  wagons,  up 
the  Missouri  and  across  the  great  plains  and  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  or  by  the  still  longer  journey  round 
by  the  isthmus  of  Panama.  And  then  there  were  but 
very  few  inhabitants  in  the  territory,  and  what  could  an 


Lincoln  rctiuiis  to  Private  Life 


157 


ambitious  man  do  there  ?     He  hesitated.     He  would  wait 
until  he  had  consulted  his  folks  at  home. 

When  he  returned  to  Springfield  and  announced  that  he 
had  been  offered  the  governorship  of  Oregon,  the  question 
was  answered  at  once  and  wisely  by  Mrs.  Lincoln.     She 


.1  -'        .       .Wf  -■'"..  ..■:'_'■_■: 


M^ 


^^^•-^.  •- 

--"^^^z. 


Lincoln's  Home  in  Springfield 


was  as  far  west  as  she  wished  to  be,  she  said,  and  as  for 
frontier  life,  she  had  had  quite  enough  of  it, 

Mr.  Lincoln,  therefore,  declined  the  President's  offer, 
gave  up  all  thoughts  of  a  government  appointment,  and 
returned  quietly  to  the  practice  of  law. 

The  business  in  his  attorney's  ofifice  had  fallen  away 
while  he  was  at  Washington,  and  he  found  it  necessary 


158  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

to  begin  almost  at  the  bottom  again.  But  everybody  in 
Springfield  knew  him,  and  he  was  not  long  in  regaining 
all  the  practice  he  had  lost.  His  two  years  in  the 
capital  of  the  United  States  had  not  made  him  proud. 
For  the  next  ten  years,  and  indeed  until  after  he  had 
been  elected  President,  he  lived  in  the  simplest  and  most 
unpretending  way. 

His  law  practice  was  not  so  heavy  as  to  keep  him  all 
the  time  at  his  office.  He  therefore  spent  many  leisure 
hours  at  home  with  his  family.  Often  when  the  weather 
was  fine  he  might  be  seen,  without  coat  or  hat,  trundling 
one  of  his  children  up  and  down  the  board  sidewalk  in 
front  of  his  house.  Visitors  would  sometimes  surprise 
him  lying  fiat  on  the  floor  in  the  narrow  hallway,  reading 
aloud  from  some  favorite  book,  or  having  a  "  rough-and- 
tumble  "  romp  with  his  boys.  He  always  attended  to  the 
keeping  and  feeding  of  his  horse ;  he  drove  the  cow  from 
the  pasture,  and  milked  her ;  he  sawed  and  split  the  wood 
and  carried  in  the  kindlings  for  the  household  fires ;  in 
short,  he  was  his  own  servant,  and  was  never  ashamed  to 
do  any  kind  of  labor  that  seemed  necessary  to  be  done. 

Strangers  seeing  the  ungainly,  plainly  clad  man,  —  his 
coat  too  large,  his  trousers  too  short,  his  shoes  unpolished, 
—  playing  with  his  children  and  doing  his  own  chores, 
would  never  have  guessed  that  within  ten  years  he  would 
be  the  first  man  in  our  repubhc.  His  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, however,  knew  well  enough  that  there  was  within 
him  a  greatness  of  mind  and  a  force  of  character  which 
might  at  any  day  put  him  in  the  front  ranks  of  American 
citizens. 


New  Phases  of  the  Slavery  Question  159 

XIV.     NEW   PHASES   OF   THE   SLAVERY    QUESTION 

During  those  quiet  years  at  Springfield  Mr.  Lincoln  did 
not  lose  his  interest  in  public  affairs.  His  keen  foresight 
showed  him  that  great  changes  must  soon  take  place  in 
this  country,  and  he  watched  the  progress  of  events  very 
closely.  The  news  from  Washington  was  a  daily  subject 
of  inquiry  and  study. 

For  a  time  this  news  centered  around  the  question  of 
admitting  California  into  the  Union. 

California  was  a  part  of  the  territory  which  had  been 
acquired  from  Mexico.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war 
gold  was  discovered  there.  Men  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  but  chiefly  from  the  Northern  states,  hastened 
thither.  They  had  no  slaves ;  they  did  not  wish  to  have 
them.  In  a  few  months  the  territory  had  a  larger  popula- 
tion than  some  of  the  Atlantic  states.  The  people  met  in 
convention,  and  petitioned  Congress  to  admit  California 
into  the  Union  as  a  free  state. 

A  part  of  California  was  farther  south  than  the  line 
which  the  Missouri  Compromise  had  indicated  as  the 
boundary  between  freedom  and  slavery.  Of  all  the  lands 
acquired  from  Mexico,  it  was  the  best  adapted  to  slave 
labor  ;  and  Southern  politicians  had  expected  that  it  would 
belong  to  the  South.  If  admitted  as  a  free  state,  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  Congress  would  be  disturbed.  There 
was  no  prospect  of  a  new  slave  state  to  restore 
that  balance.  The  North  would  be  decidedly 
stronger  than  the  South.  For  these  reasons  the  Southern 
members  of  Congress  refused  to  admit  California.      The 


i6o  Abraham  Lincoln 

Northern  members  persisted,  and  for  ten  months  the  ques- 
tion was  debated  with  great  bitterness  on  both  sides. 

The  dispute  had  gone  so  far  that  there  seemed  to  be  no 
peaceable  way  of  settHng  it.  There  were  threats  from 
some  of  the  Southern  states  to  withdraw  from  the  Union. 
Nevertheless,  to  preserve  the  Union  was  the  chief  thought 
and  care  of  every  patriotic  statesman  as  well  of  the  South 
as  of  the  North. 

At  the  very  darkest  hour  of  that  trying  time  Henry 
Clay,  the  Great  Pacificator,  arose  in  the  Senate  and  pro- 
posed a  plan  for  settling  this  dispute  and  all  other  trouble- 
some questions  relating  to  slavery  in  the  United  States. 
He  urged  a  compromise,  just  as  he  had  urged  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  thirty  years  before.  In  order  to  satisfy 
the  North,  this  compromise  provided  for  the  immediate 
admission  of  California  as  a  free  state.  In  order  to  con- 
ciliate the  South,  it  declared  that  there  should  be  no  inter- 
ference with  slavery  in  the  other  territories  acquired  from 
Mexico.  It  also  provided  that  Congress  should  pass  a 
very  strict  law  requiring  the  citizens  of  the  free  states  to 
aid  in  returning  runaway  slaves  to  their  masters;  and  it 
arranged  for  the  regulation  and  final  abolition  of  the  prac- 
tice of  trading  in  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Mr.  Clay's  compromise  measure  was  supported  by 
Daniel  Webster  in  the  last  great  speech  of  his  life.  It  was 
opposed  by  John  C.  Calhoun  in  a  speech  which  proved  to 
be  his  last  also.  Webster  spoke  earnestly  against  the 
very  thought  of  secession  from  the  Union.  "  There  can 
be  no  such  thing  as  a  peaceable  secession,"  he  said. 
"  Who  is  so  foolish  as  to  expect  to  see  such  a  thing  .''     To 


Nctv  Phases  of  tJie  Slavery  Question  i6l 

break  up  tliis  great  government !  To  dismember  this 
glorious  country!  No,  sir!  No,  sir!  There  will  be  no 
secession.  Gentlemen  are  not  serious  when  they  talk  of 
secession." 

Calhoun's  speech,  on  the  other  hand,  was  full  of  gloomy 
forebodings.  He  was  anxious  to  preserve  the  Union  if  at 
the  same  time  the  states  of  the  South  should  not  be  de- 
prived of  any  of  the  rights  that  belonged  to  them.  But 
the  South,  he  said,  was  every  day  losing  ground  ;  she  was 
excluded  from  the  common  territory  of  the  United  States ; 
she  was  overburdened  with  taxes ;  if  the  balance  of  power 
in  Congress  should  be  destroyed,  her  last  hope  would  be 
taken  away.  And  he  declared  that  the  agitation  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  if  not  soon  prevented,  would  end  in 
disunion. 

A  bill  which  embodied  Mr.  Clay's  ideas  of  compromise 
was  soon  afterward  presented  to  Congress  in  due  form.  It 
seemed  to  provide  the  only  means  for  putting  an  end  to 
the  vexing  questions  that  were  then  before  the  country, 
and  men  of  both  sections  united  in  its  support.  It  was 
finally  passed,  and  became  known  in  history  as  the  "  Com- 
promise of  1850." 

"There  will  be  no  more  agitation,"  said  Daniel  Web- 
ster. "  These  measures  are  a  finality,  and  we  shall  have 
peace." 

"  I  have  deterroined  never  to  make  another  speech  upon 
the  slavery  question,"  said  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  "So 
long  as  our  opponents  do  not  agitate  for  repeal  or  modifi- 
cation, why  should  we  agitate  for  any  purpose  ?  This 
compromise  is  a  final  settlement." 

LINCOLN  —  1 1 


[62  Abraham  Lincoln 

In  Congress  the  agitation  did  cease  for  a  time,  and 
senators  and  representatives  turned  their  minds  to  other 
subjects  and  tried  to  forget  the  troublesome  topic.  But 
among  the  people  the  excitement  about  slavery  did  not  die 
away.  The  compromise  failed  to  please  either  the  North 
or  the  South.  The  North  did  not  Hke  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  which  obliged  the  citizens  of  free  states  to  become 
slave  hunters.  The  South  was  alarmed,  because  through 
the  admission  of  California  it  would  lose  its  old-time  con- 
trol of  Congress.  Each  section  distrusted  the  other  more 
than  before ;  each  misunderstood  the  character  and  aims 
of  the  other.  And  so,  as  the  months  passed  by,  the  gulf 
between  them  grew  wider  and  wider,  and  the  question  of 
slavery  became  more  and  more  serious. 

In  the  meanwhile,  death  was  busy  among  the  leaders  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation.  John  Quincy  Adams,  with  the 
words  "  I  am  content "  on  his  lips,  had  passed  away  in 
1848,  and  had  not  seen  the  beginning  of  this  new  phase  of 
the  great  question.  Calhoun  died  in  1850,  a  few  days  after 
his  speech  in  the  Senate.  Clay  and  Webster  survived  but 
two  years  longer,  statesmen,  both,  the  like  of  whom  this 
country  may  never  see  again.  During  the  sixteen  years 
of  its  existence  the  Whig  party,  with  which  all  these  great 
men  were  allied,  had  elected  two  Presidents.  The  first 
had  died  within  a  month  after  his  inauguration ;  the 
second.  General  Taylor,  after  serving  through  half  his 
term  and  four  months  more,  had  also  died. 

President  Taylor  was  succeeded  by  the  Vice  President, 
Millard  Fillmore  of  New  York.  It  was  Mr.  Fillmore  who 
signed  and  approved  the  famous  Compromise  Act  of  1850. 


Nczv  Phases  of  the  Slavery  Question  163 

When  the  time  came  for  another  presidential  election, 
neither  of  the  two  great  parties  was  yet  ready  to  take  a 
decided  stand  on  the  question  that  was  dividing 
the  country.  The  Democrats  nominated  Frank- 
lin Pierce  of  New  Hampshire.  The  Whigs  chose  Gen- 
eral Winfield  Scott,  the  surviving  hero  of  the  Mexican 
War.  Both  parties  endeavored  to  say  as  little  about  slav- 
ery as  possible.  In  the  South,  however,  the  Whig  party 
was  quite  generally  distrusted,  and  the  Democrats  were 
regarded  as  the  only  safe  friends  of  that  section.  The 
Free-soil  party,  which  was  pledged  to  oppose  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  into  the  territories,  nominated  John  P.  Hale 
of  New  Hampshire. 

The  campaign  was  a  very  quiet  one ;  for  how  could  it 
be  otherwise  when  the  leading  parties  were  silent  in 
regard  to  the  only  question  of  importance  before  the 
country.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  named  as  an  elector  on 
the  Whig  ticket  in  his  state.  "  I  am  a  standing  candidate 
for  Whig  elector,"  he  said,  "  but  I  seldom  elect  anybody." 
His  heart  was  not  in  the  campaign,  and  he  made  but  few 
speeches.  He  was  in  despair.  The  future  of  the  country 
seemed  to  him  dark  and  hopeless.  "  What  is  to  be  done  ?  " 
he  asked.  "  Is  anything  to  be  done  ?  Who  can  do  any- 
thing "i  And  how  is  it  to  be  done .-'  Do  you  ever  think  of 
these  things  ? " 

In  November,  as  everybody  had  expected,  Franklin 
Pierce  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  Among 
Northern  Democrats  the  South  could  not  have  found 
a  firmer  friend.  In  his  first  message  to  Congress  he 
declared   that   the    Compromise   of   1850   had  settled  all 


164  Ahraha^n  Lincoln 

disputes  growing  out  of  the  question  of  slavery,  and  that 
during  his  administration  there  should  be  no  further  agita- 
tion of  the  subject. 

Not  twelve  months  had  passed,  however,  before  an  agi- 
tation began  that  was  not  to  cease  until  slavery  was 
aboHshed. 


XV.     A   BILL   THAT   PROVED   TO   BE   A   FIREBRAND 

The  prairie  lands  and  great  plains  lying  west  of  Mis- 
souri and  Iowa  were  still  almost  without  inhabitants.  The 
region  was  known  as  the  Missouri  territory,  but  it  had 
no  organized  government,  and  was  subject  merely  to  the 
general  laws  of  the  United  States.  In  the  year  1844  a 
movement  was  set  on  foot  by  the  War  Department  to 
form  a  vast  and  permanent  Indian  reservation  in  the  West. 
It  was  proposed  that  the  whole  of  the  so-called  Missouri 
territory  should  be  given  up  to  the  various  tribes  then  liv- 
ing in  the  United  States,  and  that  the  government  should 
pledge  itself  not  to  include  any  portion  of  it  in  any  state  or 
territory  "  so  long  as  grass  should  grow,  and  water  run." 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois  had  just  then  taken  his 
seat  for  the  first  time  in  Congress.  The  proposal  of  this 
plan  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  make  himself  heard. 

"  If  an  Indian  country  is  thus  established  along  the 
western  borders  of  the  states,"  he  said,  "all  communica- 
tion with  Oregon  and  the  Pacific  coast  will  be  forever 
cut  off.  Besides  this,  the  growth  and  expansion  of  the 
United  States  must  stop  with  the  western  boundary  lines 
of  Missouri  and  Iowa."     And,  to  prevent  the  carrying  out 


A  Bill  that  proved  to  be  a  Firebrand  165 

of  the  scheme,  he  introduced  into  Congress  a  bill  to  organ- 
ize a  great  territory,  including  all  the  region  in  question. 
The  bill  was  not  voted  upon,  but  so  long  as  it  was  before 
Congress  the  War  Department  could  do  nothing  toward 
converting  that  region  into  an  Indian  reservation. 

At  every  session  of  Congress  for  ten  successive  years, 
Mr.  Douglas  introduced  the  same  or  a  similar  bill  for 
organizing  the  Missouri  territory.  In  the  meanwhile  a 
few  straggling  pioneers  made  themselves  homes  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Platte  and  the  Kansas  rivers.  For  their 
own  protection  they  wished  to  have  some  sort  of  govern- 
ment in  which  they  themselves,  as  American  citizens, 
might  take  an  active  part.  This  fact  gave  to  Mr.  Douglas 
another  argument  for  urging  the  adoption  of  his  bill. 

But  the  members  of  Congress  did  not  seem  to  feel  much 
interest  in  the  matter.  All  of  the  territory  in  question  was 
north  of  the  line  named  in  the  Missouri  Compromise  as 
the  line  between  freedom  and  slavery.  Why  should 
Southern  senators  and  representatives  take  an  interest  in 
territory  from  which  slavery  was  excluded .-'  As  for  the 
Northern  members  of  Congress,  they  appeared  to  be  well 
satisfied  to  let  matters  rest  as  they  were. 

At  length,  in  1854,  Mr.  Douglas  introduced  a  new  bill, 
different  in  some  important  features  from  any  that  he  had 
proposed  before.  This  bill  provided  that  two  territories  — 
Kansas  and  Nebraska — should  be  organized;  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  should  be  declared  of  no  effect ;  and 
that  the  people  of  each  territory  should  decide  for  them- 
selves whether  it  should  become  a  slave  or  a  free  state. 

The  plan  was   pleasing  to  many  because  it  seemed  to 


1 66  Abraham  Lincoln 

give  to  the  }ic()ple  the  power  to  manage  their  own  home 
affairs.  It  was  pleasing  to  others  because  it  seemed  to 
open  a  way  by  which  the  South  might  recover  her  influence 
in  Congress.  It  was  proposed  by  a  free-state  senator ;  it 
could  not  be  adopted  without  the  votes  of  several  free-state 
congressmen  ;  and  yet  it  was  plainly  designed  to  serve  the 
interests  of  the  slaveholding  power.  It  would  open  to 
slavery  a  region  greater  in  extent  than  the  original  thirteen 
states  of  the  Union  combined. 

When  the  bill  was  passed,  the  excitement  throughout 
the  North  was  such  as  had  never  before  been  known. 
Men  said  that  Mr.  Douglas  wished  to  be  the  next  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  presidency,  and  that  he 
had  caused  this  law  to  be  made  in  order  to  gain 
the  votes  of  the  Southern  people.  When  Congress  ad- 
journed and  he  went  home,  he  found  that  very  many  of 
his  old  friends  had  deserted  him.  The  people  of  his  state 
were  against  him.  He  saw  the  signs  of  their  displeasure 
on  every  hand.  When  he  arrived  in  Chicago,  the  flags 
were  flying  at  half  mast,  and  the  bells  were  tolling  as  at 
a  funeral  service.  He  attempted  to  speak  in  his  own 
defense,  but  his  neighbors  refused  to  listen  to  him.  The 
few  people  who  gathered  around  the  platform  on  which 
he  stood  were  defiant.  They  asked  him  questions  which 
made  him  angry ;  then  they  denounced  him  as  a  Northern 
man  with  Southern  principles,  who  had  sold  himself  to  the 
slaveholding  power.  When  he  tried  to  answer  them,  they 
made  such  an  uproar  that  he  could  not  be  heard.  Finally, 
he  was  obliged  to  go  home  without  having  explained  his 
course  to  any  one. 


A  Bill  tliat  pnwcd  to  be  a  Firebrand  167 

Mr.  Douglas  had  every  reason  for  wishing  to  regain 
and  hold  the  friendship  of  the  people  of  Illinois.  His 
entire  future  depended  upon  it.  He  therefore  spent  the 
summer  and  fall  in  visiting  the  most  important  towns  of 
the  state  and  making  speeches  on  the  last  phase  of  the 
great  question.  His  chief  care  was  to  explain  his  course 
with  reference  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act ;  and  by  skill- 
ful reasoning  he  persuaded  many  of  his  hearers  that  the 
act  was  not  so  bad  a  thing  as  it  had  been  represented. 

The  Southern  states,  he  said,  would  never  have  con- 
sented to  the  settling  of  those  territories,  so  long  as  their 
citizens  were  not  permitted  to  move  there  and  hold  their 
slaves.  They  had  the  power  in  Congress  to  oblige  the 
government  to  make  and  observe  certain  treaties  with  the 
Indian  tribes ;  and  should  these  treaties  result  in  turning 
over  the  whole  Missouri  region  to  the  Indians,  that  part 
of  our  country  would  be  forever  closed  against  all  white 
settlers.  A  great  many  people  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South  were  anxious  to  seek  homes  in  those  territories,  and 
were  only  waiting  to  be  assured  that  they  would  be  protected 
there.  The  South  was  wilhng  to  give  up  the  idea  of  mak- 
ing an  Indian  country  of  the  territories,  provided  the  North 
would  consent  to  open  them  for  settlement  and  to  give  the 
settlers  from  the  Southern  states  equal  rights  with  the 
settlers  from  the  Northern  states.  The  emigrant  from 
Massachusetts  might  carry  all  his  property  into  any  terri- 
tory ;  why  might  not  the  emigrant  from  South  Carolina  do 
likewise,  even  though  a  great  part  of  his  property  consisted 
of  slaves .-' 

Mr.  Douglas    claimed  therefore  that  the  repeal  of  the 


1 68  Abraham  JJiicohi 

Missouri  Compromise  was  as  beneficial  to  the  North  as  to 
the  South,  and  that  it  was  an  act  of  justice  to  all.  But  the 
point  upon  which  he  laid  the  greatest  stress  was  this :  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  gave  to  the  people  of  the  territories 
the  right  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they  would  have 
slavery  or  not.  The  people,  and  not  Congress,  were  the 
sovereign  power  in  their  own  domains.  All  this  reasoning 
seemed  to  be  very  fair  and  just,  and  Mr.  Douglas  suc- 
ceeded in  not  only  winning  back  a  great  number  of  his  old 
friends,  but  in  securing  many  new  ones.  That  the  people 
should  be  their  own  sovereigns  was  only  another  way  of 
saying  that  the  people  should  have  the  right  to  make  their 
own  laws  —  and  that  was  what  the  patriots  in  the  Revolu- 
tion had  fought  for.  And  so  the  Douglas  Democrats,  as 
they  came  to  be  called,  adopted  "  Popular  Sovereignty  "  as 
their  watchword. 

In  October,  the  Illinois  agricultural  fair  was  held  in 
Springfield,  and  Mr.  Douglas  made  a  great  speech  to  the 
farmers  who  had  gathered  there  from  different  parts  of 
the  state.  On  the  following  day  Abraham  Lincoln  replied 
to  that  speech.  He  reviewed  all  of  Mr.  Douglas's  argu- 
ments. "  He  attacked  the  Nebraska  bill  with  unusual 
warmth  and  energy,"  says  a  newspaper  reporter  who 
was  present.  "  He  felt  upon  his  soul  the  truths  burn 
which  he  uttered.  He  quivered  with  emotion.  The  whole 
house  was  still  as  death.  He  exhibited  the  bill  in  all 
its  aspects  to  show  its  humbuggery  and  falsehood,  and, 
when  it  was  thus  torn  to  rags,  cut  into  slips,  and  held 
up  to  the  gaze  of  the  vast  audience,  a  kind  of  scorn  was 
visible  upon  the  face  of  the  crowd  and  upon  the  lips  of 


A  Bill  that  proved  to  be  a  Firebrand  169 

their  most  eloquent  speaker.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
speech  every  man  felt  that  it  was  unanswerable  —  that  no 
human  power  could  overthrow  it  or  trample  it  under  foot." 

One  passage  in  this  famous  speech  was  often  quoted 
afterward  by  the  friends  of  freedom  to  show  the  shallow- 
ness of  Douglas's  doctrine  of  Popular  Sovereignty.  "  I 
admit,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern  himself;  but  [and 
here  the  speaker  rose  to  his  full  height]  /  deny  his  right  to 
govern  any  other  person  zvithont  that  person' s  consent." 

Mr.  Douglas  was  present  during  the  whole  of  the  speech. 
At  its  close  he  hastily  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  platform, 
and  said  that  the  speaker  had  abused  him,  "  though  in  a 
perfectly  courteous  manner."  Every  one  could  see  that  he 
felt  himself  thoroughly  beaten.  He  tried  to  reply  to  some 
of  Lincoln's  arguments,  but  his  usual  self-confidence  and 
bravado  were  wanting.  He  spoke  for  several  minutes  in  a 
faltering,  rambling  way,  without  touching  upon  any  point 
of  importance,  and  then  announced  that  he  would  answer 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  evening.  But  when  evening  came  he 
failed  to  appear,  and  the  promised  reply  was  never  made. 

A .  few  days  later,  Douglas  made  a  speech  at  Peoria 
where  he  was  again  answered  by  Lincoln,  each  speaking 
three  hours  to  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  Douglas 
seemed  to  be  losing  faith  in  his  cause ;  he  spoke  with  em- 
barrassment, as  though  conscious  of  defeat.  Lincoln's 
speech  was  not  so  full  of  feeling  as  that  at  Springfield  had 
been,  but  his  arguments  were  even  stronger.  At  the  close 
of  the  debate,  Douglas  said  to  Lincoln  :  "You  understand 
this  question  of  slavery  in  the  territories  better  than  all 


I/O  Abraliavi  Lincoln 

the  opposition  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  I  can- 
not make  anything  by  debating  it  with  you.  You,  Mr. 
Lincohi,  have  here  and  at  Springfield  given  me  more 
trouble  than  all  the  opposition  in  the  Senate  combined." 
He  then  proposed  that  both  should  return  home  and  make 
no  more  speeches  during  that  campaign.  Lincoln  con- 
sented to  do  this ;  but  when  he  heard,  a  few  days  later, 
that  Douglas  had  broken  his  agreement  and  had  spoken  at 
a  political  meeting  in  another  part  of  the  state,  he  again 
entered  the  field. 

The  election  was  for  members  of  the  state  legislature, 
and  this  legislature  was  to  choose  a  United  States  senator. 
The  majority  of  the  voters  in  Illinois  had  always  been  Dem- 
ocrats ;  but  this  year,  owing  partly  to  the  people's  dissatis- 
faction with  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  partly  to  the 
influence  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  there  was  a  great  change. 
In  the  new  legislature  there  were  men  of  three  parties  — 
Democrats,  Whigs,  and  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  (or 
Democrats  opposed  to  Mr.  Douglas's  course).  The  three 
parties  were  nearly  equal  in  strength,  and  no  one  had  a 
majority  over  the  other  two. 

When  the  time  came  for  choosing  a  United  States 
senator,  the  Democrats  nominated  General  Shields,  a 
soldier  of  the  Mexican  War;  the  Anti-Nebraska  Demo- 
crats nominated  Lyman  Trumbull  ;  the  Whigs  nominated 
Abraham  Lincoln.  Since  the  parties  were  so  nearly 
equal,  no  candidate  could  receive  a  majority  of  votes 
unless  some  who  did  not  belong  to  his  party  should 
vote  for  him.  When  the  Democrats  found  that  they 
could    not   elect    Shields,    they    dropped    him    and    nomi- 


Abraham  Lincoln  in   1856 


1/2  Abraham  Lincoln 

natcd  Joel  A.  Mathcson,  a  gentleman  who  had  never  said 
whether  he  favored  or  opposed  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill. 
They  did  this  hoping  to  win  the  votes  of  the  Anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats. 

Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  been  glad  to  receive  the  nomi- 
nation ;  for  to  be  a  United  States  senator  was  his  dearest 
ambition.  But  he  saw  now  that,  unless  the  Whigs  and 
the  Anti-Nebraskas  united,  a  Democrat  would  be  chosen 
and  Douglas  would  be  triumphant.  He  therefore  begged 
his  friends  to  leave  him  and  cast  their  ballots  for  Mr. 
Trumbull,  who,  although  a  Democrat,  was  unalterably 
opposed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  and  to  the  extension 
of  slavery.  They  finally  consented,  although  it  is  said  that 
some  of  them  shed  tears  in  doing  so.  Mr.  Trumbull  was 
chosen,  and  Democratic  rule  in  IlHnois  was  at  an  end. 

This  wise,  self-sacrificing  act  of  Mr.  Lincoln  won  him 
many  friends ;  and  when,  soon  afterward,  the  Whigs  and 
Anti-Nebraskas  and  Free-soilers  were  united  in  a  single 
party,  he  became  by  general  consent  their  leader. 

XVI.     THE   WAR    IN    KANSAS 

When  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress on  the  8th  of  May,  1854,  a  cannon  was  fired  on 
Capitol  Hill  in  Washington  to  announce  the  fact.  Every- 
body believed  that  the  slave  power  had  gained  a  great 
victory ;  but,  as  matters  turned  out,  the  booming  of  the 
cannon  really  heralded  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  slavery. 
Its  friends  had  gone  one  step  too  far. 

The  news  was  quickly  carried  to  the  different  sections 


The    War  in  Kansas  173 

of  the  Union  announcing  that  the  great  West  had  been 
opened  up  for  settlement,  and  that  the  settlers  in  each 
territory  should  themselves  choose  whether  they  would 
have  slavery  or  freedom.  The  antislavery  people  in  the 
North  determined  at  once  that  Kansas  should  be  free  — 
and  if  Kansas,  then  the  rest  of  the  West  also.  The 
slaveholders  of  the  South,  and  especially  of  Missouri, 
resolved,  with  equal  determination,  that  Kansas  should  be 
made  a  slave  state. 

Then  a  wild  race  began  for  the  possession  of  the 
territory.  The  slaveholders  were  the  first  in  the  field. 
Large  numbers  of  Missourians  hurried  across  the  state 
border  and  settled  themselves  upon  the  lands  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  Kansas.  Some  took  their  families  and  slaves, 
built  themselves  homes  in  the  new  territory,  and  expected 
to  stay  there.  But  many  more  went  only  for  a  short  time, 
to  stake  out  land  claims  and  live  in  tents  or  temporary  huts, 
until  by  their  votes  they  could  make  Kansas  a  slave  state. 
They  were  called  "squatters,"  and  they  intended,  as  soon 
as  they  had  gained  their  purpose,  to  return  to  their  homes 
in  Missouri. 

The  free-state  men  —  as  those  were  called  who  opposed 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  —  were  determined  not  to  be 
outdone.  Societies  were  formed  throughout  the  North  for 
the  purpose  of  hurrying  emigrants  into  Kansas.  Soon 
numerous  companies  of  "  movers,"  with  their  families  and 
household  goods,  were  on  their  way  to  the  new  lands  in  the 
West,  every  one  pledged  to  do  all  that  he  could  to  prevent 
the  extension  of  slavery.  They  were  obliged  to  go  by  a 
roundabout   route  through  Iowa   and  Nebraska ;    for  the 


174  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

slaveholders  of  Missouri  had  forbidden  them  to  pass 
through  their  state.  They  went  in  wagons,  on  horse- 
back, and  on  foot,  for  there  were  no  railroads  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  It  required  many  weeks  to  make  the  jour- 
ney ;  and  as  the  long  trains  moved  slowly  onward  across 
the  Western  prairies,  their  hopes  and  fixed  determination 
were  voiced  by  the  poet  of  freedom,  John  G.  Whit- 
tier  :  — 

"  We  cross  the  prairies,  as  of  old 
The  Pilgrims  crossed  the  sea. 
To  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East 
The  homestead  of  the  free. 

*^  We  go  to  rear  a  wall  of  men 
On  Freedom's  Southern  line, 
And  plant  beside  the  cotton  tree 
The  rugged  Northern  pine. 

"  We  go  to  plant  her  common  schools 
On  distant  prairie  swells, 
And  give  the  Sabbath  of  the  wilds 
The  music  of  her  bells."' 

The  free-state  people  made  themselves  homes  in  the 
valley  of  the  Kansas  River  and  founded  the  towns  of 
Lawrence  and  Topeka.  The  slave-state  people  and  the 
squatters  had  taken  up  the  lands  farther  north  and  were 
established  in  Leavenworth  and  all  along  the  Missouri 
border. 

The  two  parties  seemed  to  be  almost  equal  in  strength. 
The  free-state  men  were,  for  the  most  part,  peace-loving 
farmers,  who  wished  to  settle  the  great  question  lawfully 
by  their  votes ;  but  they  were  determined  to  have  fair  play 


TJie    War  in  Kansas  175 

at  all  hazards.  Many  of  the  .slave-state  men  came  armed 
with  bovvie  knives  and  shotguns,  intending  to  override  all 
opposition  ;  they  also  wished  to  settle  the  question  at  the 
ballot  box,  but  they  expected  every  vote  to  be  on  their 
side. 

There  could  be  no  such  thing  as  peace  between  the  two 
parties.  Eight  hundred  slave-state  men,  led  by  a  United 
States  marshal,  marched  upon  Lawrence.  They  destroyed 
the  antislavery  printing  presses  there,  burned  some  of  the 
houses,  and  pillaged  others.  The  free-state  men  were 
roused  to  madness  and  determined  to  have  revenge.  They 
killed  some  of  the  most  obnoxious  of  their  enemies,  and 
then  prepared  themselves  for  defense. 

Thus  civil  war  was  begun.  On  both  sides  the  passions  of 
excited  and  determined  men  were  roused  to  the  highest 
pitch.  Houses  were  burned;  men  were  waylaid  and  killed; 
there  were  false  imprisonments,  and  daring  rescues ;  there 
were  battles  on  a  small  scale ;  and,  as  the  strange  conflict 
went  on,  each  party  became  more  and  more  determined  to 
overcome  its  opponent.  The  cry  of  "bleeding  Kansas" 
was  heard  throughout  the  North,  and  thousands  of  men 
who  had  hitherto  been  silent  on  the  question  of  slavery 
became  outspoken  advocates  of  freedom. 

When  the  time  came  for  elections,  several  hundred 
Missourians,  led  by  a  United  States  senator,  crossed  the 
line  and  cast  their  ballots  as  though  they  were  citizens  of 
the  territory.  A  legislature  was  chosen,  composed  entirely 
of  slave-state  men.  This  legislature  adopted  a  state  con- 
stitution precisely  like  that  of  Missouri,  with  slavery  as  its 
chief  feature.      To  offset  this,  the  free-state  men  held  a 


1/6  Abraham  Lincoln 

convention  at  Topeka,  and  declared  that  the  legislature 
had  been  elected  not  by  citizens  of  Kansas  but  by  Missou- 
rians,  and  therefore  it  had  no  right  to  form  any  laws  for 
Kansas.  They  issued  a  call  for  a  new  election ;  and 
another  legislature  was  chosen  which  adopted  a  free-state 
constitution  and  petitioned  Congress  to  admit  Kansas  into 
the  Union. 

And  now  Franklin  Pierce,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  came  forward  to  settle  the  dispute.  He  declared 
that  the  slave-state  legislature  was  the  true  lawmaking 
power  of  the  territory.  He  said  that  the  action  of  the 
free-state  men  in  electing  another  legislature  and  form- 
ing a  free-state  constitution  was  nothing  short  of  rebellion 
against  the  government.  He  issued  a  proclamation  warn- 
ing all  persons  against  disturbing  the  peace  of  Kansas,  and 
sent  a  body  of  soldiers  into  the  territory  to  enforce  the  laws 
made  by  the  slave-state  legislature.  When  the  free-state 
legislature  attempted  to  meet  at  Topeka,  its  members 
were  driven  away  by  United  States  troops.  Neverthe- 
less,  Kansas  was  not  yet  admitted  into  the  Union. 

"Where  now,  Mr.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,"  said  the  peo- 
ple of  the  North  —  "where  now  is  your  doctrine  of  popu- 
lar sovereignty }  Is  not  slavery  being  forced  upon  the 
people  of  Kansas,  without  their  consent  and  against  the 
will  of  the  most  of  them }  " 

XVII.     RULE   OR    RUIN 

In  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  a  joint  meeting  of  Whigs  and 
Free-soilers  and    Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  was    held    in 


Rule  or  Ruin  177 

one  of  the  churches  of  the  village.  "Let  us  forget 
all  minor  differences  of  opinion,"  said  they,  "and  unite 
on  the  one  question  of  opposition  to  the  ex- 
tension  of  slavery  into  the  territories.  Let  us  work 
no  longer  as  three  parties,  but  as  one."  They  therefore 
decided  that  a  new  political  party  should  be  organized  — 
a  party  to  which  all  persons  opposed  to  the  aggressions 
of  the  slave  power  might  belong;  and  it  was  suggested 
that  that  party  should  be  called  "  Republican."  The 
action  of  this  little  village  convention  had  its  influence 
elsewhere;  and  soon  there  was  a  general  movement  for 
a  union  of  the  various  smaller  parties  into  one. 

In  Michigan,  on  the  6th  of  July,  a  state  convention  of 
Whigs  and  Free-soilers  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions 
against  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  and  formed  a  new 
organization  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  the  "  Repub- 
Hcan  party."  Before  the  end  of  another  year  the  people 
of  fifteen  states  had  declared  themselves  opposed  to  the 
extension  of  slavery ;  and  of  the  one  hundred  and  forty- 
two  representatives  in  Congress  from  the  Northern  states, 
only  twenty-two  continued  to  uphold  the  course  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  in  making  it  possible  for  the  territories  to 
become  slave  states. 

While  men  in  the  North  were  thus  combining  to  oppose 
a  system  which  they  believed  dangerous  to  the  country 
as  a  whole,  other  events  were  taking  place  which  aroused 
them  to  still  greater  efforts. 

In  Boston,  an  escaped  slave  was  discovered.  The  court 
decided  that  the  wretched  negro  should  be  delivered   to 

LINCOLN  —  12 


1/8  Abra/imn  Lincoln 

his  master.  An  attempt  was  made  by  Abolitionists  to 
rescue  him.  A  riot  followed ;  the  courthouse  was  at- 
tacked ;  blood  was  shed ;  the  militia  of  Boston  were  called 
out.  Then  the  city  marshal,  with  a  hundred  civil  officers 
of  Boston,  guarding  the  chained  slave,  marched  out  of  the 
courthouse  in  a  hollow  square  formed  by  United  States 
troops.  They  marched  down  State  Street  to  the  harbor, 
and  put  the  trembling  fugitive  on  board  of  a  United  States 
cutter  which  President  Pierce  had  sent  to  carry  him  back 
to  bondage.  It  was  a  day  to  be  remembered  in  Boston. 
People  began  then  to  believe  that  the  slave  power  would 
never  be  content  until  every  state  in  the  Union  was  under 
its  control. 

In  a  city  of  Belgium,  on  an  October  day,  three  Ameri- 
can politicians  met  to  discuss  a  question  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  the  slave  power.  They  were  James  Buchanan 
of  Pennsylvania,  John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia,  and  Pierre 
Soule  of  Louisiana.  They  were  respectively  the  minis- 
ters of  the  United  States  to  England,  France,  and  Spain. 
The  question  which  they  discussed  was  this :  "  How  can 
the  United  States  gain  possession  of  Cuba.'*"  Behind 
that  question  there  was  still  another :  "  What  can  be  done 
to  extend  slavery  into  new  territories,  so  as  to  increase  the 
number  of  slave  states  in  the  Union  and  make  the  slave 
power  forever  supreme }  " 

Cuba  was  an  ideal  country  for  slavery,  and  sugar 
growers  and  cotton  planters  in  the  South  had  suggested 
that  it  ought  to  be  made  a  part  of  the  United  States. 
The  three  statesmen  were  pleased  with  the  thought. 
"  The  Union  can  never  enjoy  repose  nor  possess  reliable 


Rule  or  Ruin  1 79 

security,"  they  said,  "  so  long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced 
within  its  boundaries."  They  therefore  wrote  to  Presi- 
dent Pierce  and  urged  him  to  offer  Spain  one  hundred 
and  twenty  milUons  of  dollars  for  the  island.  But  what  if 
Spain  should  refuse  to  sell  it  1  Then,  declare  war  upon 
her,  and  take  it  by  force. 

When  this  proposition  was  made  known,  the  people 
of  the  North  were  indignant.  Take  a  hundred  and 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  from  the  public  treasury  to 
extend  slavery  and  the  slave  power  }  Never  !  Rob  Spain 
unjustly  of  her  possessions,  and  perhaps  involve  the 
United  States  in  war  with  half  the  nations  of  Europe  ? 
Never ! 

And  so  a  multitude  of  Northern  voters,  who  had 
formerly  sympathized  with  the  South,  joined  the  ranks  of 
Free-soilers  and  Abolitionists. 

In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Charles  Sumner  of 
Massachusetts  dehvered  the  strongest  speech  that  had 
ever  been  made  against  the  slave  power.  His 
speech,  which  in  truth  was  a  violent  one,  was 
entitled  "The  Crime  against  Kansas,"  and  in  it  he  made 
a  bitter  attack  upon  South  Carolina  and  upon  Senator 
Butler  of  that  state  as  largely  responsible  for  the  evils  of 
which  he  complained.  Two  days  later,  as  Sumner  was 
sitting  at  his  desk  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  Preston  S. 
Brooks,  a  representative  from  South  Carolina,  strode  down 
the  aisle  and  stood  suddenly  before  him. 

"  I  have  read  your  speech  twice  over  carefully,"  said 
Brooks.  "  It  is  a  libel  upon  South  Carolina  and  upon  Mr. 
Butler,  who  is  a  relative  of  mine." 


i8o 


A  braJia  m  L  incoln 


As  he  spoke  the  last  word,  he  suddenly  raised  his  cane 
and  brought  it  down  with  terrific  force  upon  Sumner's 
head.  The  cane  broke,  but  Brooks  went  on,  beating  the 
senator  with  the  end  that  remained  in  his  hand.  Sumner 
tried  in  vain  to  defend  himself ;  he  wrenched  the  desk 
from  the  floor,  and  held  it 
iip  as  a  shield.  But  Brooks 
pushed  the  desk  aside,  and 
while  his  victim,  blinded  with 
blood,  was  reeling  to  the  floor, 
kept  on  striking  with  merciless 
fury.  Not  until  his  arm  was 
seized  and  held  by  a  by- 
stander did  he  cease 
his  blows. 

Such     a     beating 
would     have     killed 
a   man    of    ordinary 
build.        Sumner, 
who  had  a  power- 
ful    frame     and 
perfect  health, 
lay  for  many  days 
at    death's    door, 
and   although    he 

lived  many  years  afterward,  he  never  regained  his  strength. 
Had  Preston  S.  Brooks  resorted  to  a  braver  and  manlier 
method  to  avenge  the  insult  of  which  he  complained,  the 
people  of  the  North  would  doubtless  have  sympathized 
with  him.     But  they  looked  upon  his  act  as  being  both 


Under  Biichanaji  s  Administration  i8i 

cowardly  and  brutal ;  and  thousands  who  had  hitherto 
apologized  for  slavery  turned  against  the  slave  power  and 
became  its  bitter  enemies. 


XVIII.     UNDER    BUCHANAN'S    ADMINISTRATION 

In  May,  1856,  a  notable  convention  was  held  in  Bloom- 
ington,  Illinois.     It  was  a  meeting  of  men  from  all  parts 
of  the  state,  who  were  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  slavery  into  the  territories.     It  had  been  called 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  new  political  party. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  there.  "Let  us,"  said  he,  "in 
building  our  new  party,  make  our  corner  stone  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence."  And  then  he  delivered  one  of 
the  most  powerful  speeches  of  his  life  —  a  speech  which 
was  so  clear,  so  forcible,  so  convincing,  that  his  great  audi- 
ence was  moved  to  feel  and  believe  every  word  that  he 
said.  Again  and  again,  while  he  was  speaking,  "  they 
sprang  to  their  feet  and  upon  the  benches,  and  testified  by 
long-continued  shouts  and  the  waving  of  hats,  how  deeply 
the  speaker  had  wrought  upon  their  minds  and  hearts." 

Thus  the  Republican  party  of  Illinois  was  formed ;  and 
from  the  first  Abraham  Lincoln  was  its  acknowledged 
leader. 

Three  weeks  later  the  first  national  convention  of  the 
party  was  held  in  Philadelphia.  John  Charles  Fremont 
of  California  was  nominated  for  President,  and  William 
L.  Dayton  of  New  Jersey  for  Vice  President.  On  the  first 
ballot  for  the  vice-presidential  candidate,  one  hundred 
and  ten  votes  were  ca.st  for  Mr.  Lincoln.     When  the  news 


1 82  Abraham  Lincoln 

was  repeated  to  Abraham  Lincoln  in  Springfield,  he  smiled 
and  said  in  his  droll  way,  "  That  is  probably  the  distin- 
guished Mr.  Lincoln  of  Massachusetts." 

The  Democrats  nominated  James  Buchanan  of  Penn- 
sylvania for  President,  and  John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Ken- 
tucky for  Vice  President.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had  hoped 
to  win  the  presidential  nomination ;  but  he  had  estranged 
so  many  of  his  Northern  friends  that  the  convention  deemed 
it  wiser  to  choose  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  was  said  to  be  dis- 
pleased with  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act. 

In  the  campaign  of  that  summer  Mr.  Lincoln  did  his 
full  share.  He  made  speeches  in  all  the  important  towns 
of  his  state ;  and,  being  free  to  say  what  he  thought,  he 
threw  himself  into  the  work  with  all  his  old-time  energy. 
Mr.  Douglas  was  also  very  active  in  support  of  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket ;  and  often  the  two  men  spoke  from  the  same 
platform.  Opposed  to  each  other  as  they  were  in  politics, 
there  was  no  bitterness  of  feeling  between  them. 

"Twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Douglas  and  I  first  became 
acquainted,"  said  Lincoln.  "We  were  both  young  —  he 
a  trifle  younger  than  L  Even  then  we  were  ambitious  — 
I,  perhaps,  quite  as  much  as  he.  With  me  the  race  has 
been  a  failure  —  a  flat  failure.  With  him  it  has  been  one 
of  splendid  success.  His  name  fills  the  nation,  and  is  not 
unknown  in  foreign  lands.  I  affect  no  contempt  for  the 
high  eminence  he  has  reached.  So  reached  that  the 
oppressed  of  my  species  might  have  shared  with  me 
the  elevation,  I  would  rather  stand  on  that  eminence  than 
wear  the  richest  crown  that  ever  pressed  a  monarch's 
brow." 


Under  Buchanan's  Adniinistraiion  183 

Ten  years  would  not  pass  until  the  world  should  know 
which  of  the  two  had  made  the  "  splendid  success,"  and 
which  the  "flat  failure." 

The  election  was  won  by  the  Democrats,  and  James 
Buchanan  became  the  fifteenth  President  of  the  United 
States.  The  Republicans  were  not  yet  strong  enough  to 
carry  many  of  the  states ;  but  they  had  polled  more  votes 
than  anybody  expected,  and  they  looked  hopefully  forward 
to  the  future. 

President  Buchanan  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1857.  On  that  occasion  he  said:  "The  whole 
territorial  question  [the  question  of  slavery  in  the  terri- 
tories] being  settled  upon  the  principle  of  popular  sov- 
ereignty —  a  principle  as  ancient  as  free  government  itself 
—  everything  of  a  practical  nature  has  been  decided. 
May  we  not  then  hope  that  the  long  agitation  on  this 
subject  [of  slavery]  is  approaching  its  end,  and  that  the 
geographical  parties,  so  much  dreaded  by  the  Father  of 
his  country,  will  speedily  become  extinct.''  " 

While  he  was  speaking  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  was  preparing  that  which  would  renew  the  long 
agitation  and  increase  the  bitterness  of  feeling  between 
the  two  sections. 

Dr.  Emerson,  a  surgeon  in  the  United  States  army,  was 
the  owner  of  a  negro  slave  whose  name  was  Dred  Scott. 
From  his  home  in  St.  Louis  he  took  the  slave  to  Rock 
Island,  in  the  free  state  of  IlHnois,  where  he  lived  for  a 
year  or  more.  Then  he  took  him  to  Fort  Snelling,  in 
Minnesota,  and   there    Dred    was   married    to    Harriet,  a 


184  AbraJiavi  Lincoln 

negro  woman  whom  his  master  purchased.  Two  years 
later  Dr.  Emerson  returned  to  St.  Louis,  carrying  with 
him  the  two  slaves  and  their  child  that  had  been  born  at 
Fort  Snelling.  Dred  Scott  claimed  that  because  he  and 
his  wife  had  been  taken  by  their  master  into  a  free  state 
they  were  entitled,  under  the  common  law  of  the  land,  to 
their  freedom ;  and  that  the  child  who  was  born  in  a  free 
territory  could  not  be  made  a  slave. 

The  case  was  first  brought  before  the  state  courts  in 
Missouri,  and  was  then  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.  Of  the  nine  judges  who  then  com- 
posed that  court,  five  were  from  the  slave  states.  In 
making  the  final  decision  of  the  case,  seven  of  the  judges 
held  that  slaves  were  nothing  but  property ;  that  being 
nothing  but  property,  they  could  not  be  citizens  ;  and  that 
not  being  citizens,  they  could  not  bring  a  suit  in  any  court 
of  the  United  States.  "It  is  the  opinion  of  the  court," 
wrote  Chief  Justice  Taney,  "  that  neither  Dred  Scott  him- 
self, nor  any  of  his  family,  were  made  free  by  being 
carried  into  free  territory,  even  if  they  had  been  carried 
there  by  the  owner  with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  per- 
manent resident." 

The  people  of  the  North  were  astounded.  This  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  made  slavery  possible  in  every  state 
of  the  Union.  Southern  slaveholders  might  remove  perma- 
nently to  New  York  or  Maine  or  any  other  Northern  state, 
carry  their  negroes  with  them,  and  hold  them  and  their 
children  in  bondage,  just  as  in  the  Southern  states. 

"Where  now,  Mr.  Douglas,"  they  asked,  "is  your  doc- 
trine of  popular  sovereignty  }     You  say  that  to  the  people 


Under  Buchanaii  s  Administration  185 

of  a  territory  or  state  belongs  the  sole  right  to  say  whether 
they  will  or  will  not  have  slavery.  But  now  slavery  is 
permitted  everywhere,  whether  the  people  wish  it  or  not." 

Mr.  Douglas  himself  could  not  help  but  see  that  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  had  set  his  theory  at 
naught.  He  saw,  too,  how  the  slaveholders  of  Missouri 
were  trying  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  state  in  defiance  of 
the  popular  will ;  and  he  resolved  to  oppose  such  meas- 
ures.    He  told  President  Buchanan  of  his  intentions. 

"  Let  me  warn  you,  Mr.  Douglas,"  said  Buchanan,  "that 
no  Democrat  has  ever  differed  from  a  President  of  his 
own  party  without  being  crushed.  You,  yourself,  doubt- 
less remember  the  fate  of  certain  men  who  opposed  Presi- 
dent Jackson." 

"  And  I  beg  to  remind  you,  Mr.  President,"  answered 
Douglas,  "  that  General  Andrew  Jackson  is  dead." 

From  that  day  there  began  a  gradual  estrangement 
between  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  his  friends  in  the  South. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  troubles  in  Kansas  continued. 
"  If  Kansas  is  abolitionized,"  wrote  one  of  the  senators 
from  Missouri,  "  then  Missouri  will  cease  to  be  a  slave 
state.  New  Mexico  will  become  a  free  state,  and  California 
will  remain  a  free  state.  But  if  we  secure  Kansas  as  a 
slave  state,  Missouri  will  be  secure.  New  Mexico  and 
southern  California,  if  not  all  of  it,  will  become  slave 
states ;  in  a  word,  the  prosperity  or  ruin  of  the  whole 
South  depends  on  the  Kansas  struggle." 

We  can  scarcely  wonder,  then,  that  the  Missourians 
entered    so    recklessly   into   the    struggle,  and   that   men 


1 86  Abraham  Lincoln 

ordinarily  peaceable  and  law-abiding  became,  for  the  time 
being,  forgetful  of  their  duties  as  citizens  of  a  civilized 
country. 

The  excitement  ran  so  high  that  no  man's  life  was  safe 
in  Kansas.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing,  when  two 
men  met  in  the  road,  for  both  to  come  up  with  pistols  in 
their  hands  ;  and  the  first  salutation  was,  "  Free  state  or 
proslave  ? "  If  the  answer  was  not  satisfactory,  the  next 
sound  might  be  the  report  of  a  pistol.  In  the  district 
around  Lawrence,  farmers  tilled  their  fields  in  companies, 
all  armed  to  the  teeth. 

The  elections  were  a  mere  farce.  Although  it  was 
known  that  three  fourths  of  the  actual  settlers  in  the 
territory  were  free-state  men,  yet  their  votes  counted  as 
nothing.  A  convention  was  called  by  the  proslavery  men 
to  meet  at  Lecompton  for  the  purpose  of  forming  another 
state  constitution  and  again  asking  for  admission  into  the 
Union.  The  president  of  that  convention  was  John  Cal- 
houn, late  of  Illinois, — the  same  Calhoun  for  whom  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  had  carried  a  surveyor's  chain,  twenty  years 
before.  He  distinguished  himself  by  reporting  nearly 
four  hundred  proslavery  votes  from  a  district  in  which 
there  were  only  forty-three  voters.  Fearing  that  he  would 
be  obliged  to  show  the  ballots  to  a  committee  of  Congress, 
he  hid  them  in  a  candle  box,  and  thus  became  known  to 
history  as  "Candle-box  Calhoun" 

The  constitution  that  was  formed  at  Lecompton  was 
all  that  the  slaveholders  could  wish.  It  was  sent  to 
Congress  with  a  petition  that  Kansas  should  be  admitted 
to  the  Union  as  a  slave  state.     President  Buchanan  gave 


Under  Btichatian  s  Ad))nnistrahon  iS^ 

it  his  support ;  but  it  was  opposed  by  Senator  Douglas 
and  his  friends.  The  breach  in  the  Democratic  party  was 
beginning'  to  widen.  "  If  Kansas  wants  a  slave-state 
constitution,"  said  Douglas,  "  she  has  a  right  to  it.  If  she 
wants  a  free-state  constitution,  she  has  right  to  it.  It  is 
none  of  my  business  which  way  the  slavery  cause  is 
decided."  But  he  went  on  to  show  that  the  Lecompton 
Constitution  was  not  the  constitution  which  the  people 
wished,  and  that  if  it  were  fairly  voted  upon  in  Kansas,  it 
would  be  voted  down. 

Congress  at  length  resolved  to  admit  Kansas  into  the 
Union,  provided  that  the  people,  in  a  fairly  conducted 
election,  should  agree  to  the  Lecompton  Constitution  and 
slavery ;  and  as  an  inducement  to  those  who  might  waver, 
a  large  grant  of  public  lands  was  promised  to'  the  new 
state. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  slave-state  men 
in  Kansas  had  begun  to  fail.  The  squatters  from  Mis- 
souri had  grown  tired  of  the  struggle  and  had  returned 
to  their  homes.  The  free-state  men  had  gained  control  of 
the  legislature.  An  election  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
allowing  the  people  to  choose  whether  they  would  become 
a  state  with  the  Lecompton  Constitution  or  whether  they 
would  remain  a  territory. 

The  election  took  place  in  January,  1858.  Of  10,388 
votes  cast,  only  162  were  in  favor  of  the  constitution. 
Kansas  remained  a  territory ;  but  the  great  struggle  was 
ended.  When  she  became  a  state,  three  years  later,  the 
slave  power  was  already  doomed. 


1 88  Abraham   Lincoln 

XIX.    ESTRANGEMENT  BETWEEN  NORTH  AND  SOUTH 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  people  of  the  South 
wished  to  be  unjust  to  their  kinsmen  of  the  North.  It 
must  not  be  thought  that  they  were  not  patriotic.  Still 
less  must  it  be  supposed  that  all  good  men  were  arrayed 
on  the  side  of  freedom  and  all  bad  men  on  the  side  of 
slavery. 

The  patriotism  of  the  Southern  people  differed  from  the 
patriotism  of  the  Northern  people  in  that  instead  of  being 
national,  it  was  sectional.     The  doctrine  of  States'  Rights 
was    held   throughout  the  South  long  after  it  had  disap- 
peared   from    the    North.       When    our   government   was 
founded,    that    doctrine   was  almost   universal.      Thomas 
Jefferson  was  its  first  great  expounder  ;  John  C.  Calhoun 
was  its  last  great  defender.     According  to  that  doctrine, 
the  state  was  supreme  within  its    own  boundaries.     Our 
country  was  not  one  great  nation,  but  a  union  of    many 
nations.     Allegiance  was  due  first  to  the  state,  then  to  the 
section,  and  after  that  to  the  United  States.     Citizens  of 
Mississippi,  for  example,  were  proud  to  be  called  Ameri- 
cans, but  they  were  prouder  still  to  be  known  as  Southern- 
ers,   and    proudest    of   all    when    feeling   that   they  were 
Mississippians.    The  love  for  one's  state  —  a  feeling  almost 
unknown  in  the  North  —  induced  an  attachment  for  the 
section.     The  Southern  states  had  many  things  in   com- 
mon—  they    had    the    same    political    beliefs;    they   had 
slavery;  their  productions   were    similar;  the  manner   of 
living  and  thinking  was  much  the  same  in  all.     Southern 
people,  therefore,  loved  the  South,  and  were  loyal  to  it. 


Estrangement  between   North  and  South  189 

Closely  dependent  upon  all  this  was  the  idea  that  the 
South  should  always  have  as  large  a  representation  in  Con- 
gress as  the  North.  This  idea,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
began  when  our  government  was  first  founded  with 
seven  Northern  states  and  six  Southern  states.  The  two 
sections  remained  almost  equal  in  power  until  the  admis- 
sion of  California  gave  to  the  North  a  decided  majority  in 
Congress.  Even  then  there  were  so  many  Northern  men 
with  Southern  sympathies  that  the  South  might  have  held 
her  own  for  a  very  long  time  had  it  not  been  for  her  grow- 
ing jealousy  of  the  North  and  the  misunderstandings  that 
consequently  sprang  up  in  both  sections.  It  was  sectional 
jealousy  more  than  any  feeling  about  slavery  that  fanned 
the  fires  of  discord  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  Union. 

There  was  not  much  communication  between  the  two 
sections,  and  the  people  of  each  section  had  very  strange 
ideas  about  the  people  of  the  other.  In  the  South  it  was 
very  generally  believed  that  a  large  number  of  persons  in 
the  North  were  engaged  in  nothing  else  but  planning  how 
to  destroy  slavery,  and  how  to  reduce  the  Southern  people 
to  poverty.  It  was  supposed  that  the  Abolitionists  were 
actively  plotting  to  arouse  insurrections  among  the  slaves 
and  to  carry  disaster  and  ruin  into  every  Southern  home. 
Every  victory,  therefore,  of  the  slave  power  in  extending 
the  limits  of  slavery  or  in  obliging  the  Northern  people  to 
return  the  fugitives  among  them,  was  hailed  with  satisfac- 
tion as  a  step  toward  security. 

The  Southern  people  believed  that  it  was  the  purpose  of 
the  North  to  tyrannize  over  the  South  in' every  possible 
way.     They  pointed  to  the  tariff  laws  which,  while  they 


I  go  Abraham  Lincoln 

protected  Northern  manufacturers,  imposed  "  the  main 
burden  of  taxation  upon  the  Southern  people,  who  were 
consumers  and  not  manufacturers."  The  larger  part  of 
the  money  appropriated  by  Congress  for  various  purposes 
was  disbursed  in  the  North.  These  causes,  they  claimed, 
attracted  immigration  to  the  North  and  repelled  it  from 
the  South.  The  North  was  all  the  time  growing  richer  at 
the  expense  of  the  South,  which  was  scarcely  holding  its 
own. 

As  for  the  recent  pohtical  troubles,  they  urged  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  an  encroachment  of  the  North 
upon  the  South,  depriving  her  of  "  equality  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  territory  which  justly  belonged  equally  to  both." 
That  compromise,  they  said,  was  in  truth  repealed  in  1850, 
by  the  action  of  the  North  in  making  California,  which 
naturally  belonged  to  the  South,  a  free  state.  The  object 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  was  not  to  force  slavery  upon 
any  state  or  territory,  but  to  leave  the  people  "  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in 
their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States."  The  troubles  in  Kansas,  they  claimed, 
were  the  outgrowth  of  efforts  in  the  Northern  states  "  to 
prevent  free  migration  and  hinder  the  decision,  by  climate 
and  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants,"  as  to  whether  slavery 
was  advisable.  The  Northern  people  had  been  the  first  to 
begin  the  conflict.  "  The  war  cry  of  the  Northern  politi- 
cians was  *  No  extension  of  slavery!'  Its  object  was  to 
inflame  the  minds  of  the  less  discerning  and  stir  up  hatred 
toward  the  South,"  said  Jefferson  Davis. 

Such  were    some   of   the   grievances,    fancied   or   real, 


Estrangement  hetiveen  Nortli  and  SojitJi  191 

which  filled  the  hearts  of  honest  Southern  peoi)le  with 
apprehension  and  alarm.  So  intense  was  their  devotion 
to  the  South  that  they  had  come  to  regard  this  country  as 
composed  of  two  distinct  parts  ;  and  they  believed  that  the 
chief  aim  of  the  Northern  part  was  to  get  the  upper  hand 
of  the  Southern. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  among  the  Northern  people 
no  deep-seated  love  for  the  North,  merely  as  a  section  ; 
but  large  numbers  of  these  people  had  come  to  believe 
that  there  were  in  this  country  two  antagonistic  forces, 
proslavery  and  antislavery,  and  that  the  chief  aim  of  the 
proslavery  force  was  to  get  the  upper  hand  in  everything. 

There  were  good  men  in  the  South  just  as  there  were 
good  men  in  the  North.  There  were  also  men  in  both 
sections  who  were  willing  to  do  any  deed,  however  unlaw- 
ful or  unjust,  in  order  to  forward  their  own  selfish  or 
ambitious  aims. 

Only  a  small  portion  of  the  Southern  people  were 
actual  slaveowners.  The  most  of  them,  until  stirred  up 
by  slaveholding  politicians,  were  indifferent  as  to  whether 
slavery  was  extended  into  new  territories  or  not.  Those 
of  the  better  class  who  were  honest  and  well  informed  re- 
gretted that  there  should  be  so  much  strife  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  All  were  loyal  patriots,  as  they 
understood  patriotism.  Some  would  have  made  great 
sacrifices  to  settle  forever  the  disputes  between  the  sec- 
tions. "  If  I  owned  all  the  slaves  in  the  South,"  said 
Robert  E.  Lee  of  Virginia,  "  I  would  give  them  all  to  save 
the  Union." 


192 


Abraham  Lincoln 


XX.     LINCOLN   AND    DOUGLAS 

Stephen  A.  Douglas's  term  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate was  drawing  to  a  close.     The  new  legislature  soon  to 
be  elected  in  Illinois  would  choose  his  successor. 
Should  he  be  returned  to  the  Senate .''  Or  should 

his  place  be  filled 
by  another .'' 

Mr.  Douglas  had 
aided  in  bringing 
about  the  defeat 
of  the  Lecompton 
Constitution  ;  he 
had  saved  Kansas 
from  being  admit- 
ted to  the  Union  as 
a  slave  state ;  and 
in  doing  so  he  had 
made  many  bitter 
enemies  in  the 
Democratic  party. 
President  Bu- 
chanan, true  to  his 
threat,  was  using 
his  influence  to 
crush  him.  Inllli- 
Lincoln's  Writing  Desk  nois  all  Democrats 

who  were  true  to 
the  administration  would  oppose  him.  There  were  thou- 
sands, however,  who  believed  in  him,  and  would  support 


Lincoln  and  Douglas  193 

him  despite  of  anything  that  the  party  leaders  might  do. 
They  called  themselves  "  Anti-Lecompton  Democrats,"  held 
conventions,  and  nominated  men  for  the  legislature  who 
were  pledged  to  vote  for  Douglas. 

The  Republicans  of  other  states  were  pleased  because 
Douglas  had  quarreled  with  the  President  and  had  divided 
the  Democratic  party.  They  advised  the  Republicans  of 
Illinois  not  to  put  forward  a  candidate  of  their  own,  but 
to  vote  with  the  Anti-Lecompton  Democrats.  But  the 
Illinois  Republicans  knew  Douglas  too  well.  Was  it  not 
Douglas  who  had  proposed  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act .'' 
Had  not  all  the  troubles  in  Kansas  been  the  result  of  that 
act.?  Had  not  the  Lecompton  Constitution  itself  grown 
out  of  that  act.?  "Stephen  A.  Douglas,"  they  said,  "is 
not  to  be  trusted:  to-day  he  supports  a  cause  which  to- 
morrow he  will  oppose.  Besides  this,  he  is  a  Democrat  in 
all  things  except  one." 

They  therefore  announced  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
their  "first  and  only  choice  for  United  States  senator,  to 
fill  the  vacancy  about  to  be  created  by  the  expiration  of 
Mr.  Douglas's  term  of  office."  They  put  forth  all  their 
efforts  to  elect  a  legislature  that  would  carry  out  their 
wishes;  and  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  made  the  first  great 
speech  of  the  campaign. 

Before  delivering  his  speech  in  public,  he  read  it  to 
a  small  gathering  of  intimate  friends  in  the  library  of  the 
capitol  at  Springfield.  The  very  first  paragraph  filled  his 
hearers  with  alarm  :  — 

"We  are  now,"  he  said,  "far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a 
policy  was  initiated  with  the  avowed  object  and  confident 

LINCOLN — 13 


194  AhraJiaui  Lincoln 

promise  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under 
the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only 
not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opin- 
ion, it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached 
and  passed.  'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.' 
I  believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved,  —  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  —  but  I  do 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing  or  all  the  other." 

His  friends  looked  aghast. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  it }  "  he  asked  each  one. 

Not  one  approved  of  it. 

"  It  is  a  very  fooHsh  utterance,"  said  one. 

"What  you  say  may  be  true  enough,"  said  another, 
"but  the  people  are  not  ready  to  hear  it." 

"  If  you  utter  it  in  public,"  said  a  third,  "  it  will  ruin  all 
your  prospects  of  election." 

Mr.  Lincoln  listened  quietly  to  all  their  remarks  and 
then,  calm  and  serene,  rose  from  his  chair.  In  his  face 
was  that  far-away  look  which  in  later  years  was  often  seen 
there  when  he  was  grappling  with  questions  not  compre- 
hended by  common  minds. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  I  have  given  much  thought  to 
this  question.  The  proposition  is  true.  '  A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.'  It  is  time  that  this  truth 
should  be  spoken.  If  it  is  decreed  that  I  should  go  down 
because  of  this  speech,  then  let  me  go  down  linked  with 
it  to  the  truth.  Let  me  die  in  the  advocacy  of  what  is 
just  and  right." 


hi  Friendly  Debate  195 

The  next  day  he  deHvered  the  speech,  exactly  as  it  was 
written,  to  a  large  concourse  of  excited  listeners.  "  The 
result,"  said  he,  at  the  close,  "is  not  doubtful.  We  shall 
not  fail.  If  we  stand  firm,  zve  shall  not  fail.  Wise  coun- 
sels may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  may  delay  it,  but,  sooner 
or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come." 

As  his  friends  had  warned  him,  the  people  were  not  yet 
ready  to  be  told  the  plain  truth.  They  knew  that  the 
nation  was  divided  against  itself,  but  they  believed  that  it 
would  continue  to  stand,  despite  the  division ;  and  they 
resented  the  idea  that  the  cause  of  that  division  must  be 
removed  before  peace  was  possible. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln,  you  have  made  a  great  mistake,"  said  one 
of  his  hearers,  sorrowfully. 

"The  time  will  come,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "when  you  will 
think  this  '  mistake '  the  wisest  thing  I  have  heretofore 
said." 

XXI.     IN  FRIENDLY  DEBATE 

The  attention  of  both  political  parties  was  turned  to  the 
campaign  that  was  thus  opened  in  Illinois.  A  challenge 
was  sent  by  Lincoln  to  Douglas  to  discuss  the  questions 
of  the  day  in  a  series  of  joint  debates.  Douglas  accepted, 
and  seven  meetings  in  different  parts  of  the  state  were 
arranged  for. 

Never  in  the  history  of  our  country  has  such  another 
political  duel  been  fought.  When  the  day  came  at  any 
particular  place  for  one  of  these  debates,  the  people 
assembled  in  crowds  from  all  the  surrounding  country. 
Farmers  left  their  harvest-fields,  mechanics  closed  their 


ic)6  Abraham  Lincoln 

shops,  merchants  locked  their  stores.  The  roads  for  miles 
were  crowded  with  men  on  foot,  men  on  horseback,  men 
in  wagons.  They  came,  bringing  their  provisions  and 
camping  by  the  roadside  or  on  the  open  prairie.  There 
were  banners  and  brass  bands  without  number;  there  were 
bonfires  and  parades  and  much  shouting  and  swaggering; 
but  the  uppermost  wish  in  the  mind  of  every  one  was  to 
hear  what  the  two  great  leaders  had  to  say. 

At  the  first  meeting  twenty  thousand  eager  listeners  were 
present.  Mr.  Douglas  came  with  his  friends  by  railroad, 
in  a  special  car  decorated  with  flags.  His  arrival  was 
heralded  by  a  cannon  and  a  brass  band.  Mr.  Lincoln 
came  alone,  without  display  of  any  kind.  At  four  of  the 
meetings  Mr.  Douglas  opened  and  closed  the  debate ;  at 
three  that  privilege  was  accorded  to  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"I  take  great  pleasure,"  said  Douglas,  "in  saying  that 
I  have  known  personally  and  intimately,  for  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  the  worthy  gentleman  who  has  been 
nominated  for  my  place ;  and  I  will  say  that  I  regard  him 
as  a  kind,  amiable,  and  intelligent  gentleman,  —  a  good 
citizen  and  an  honorable  opponent.  And  whatever  may 
be  the  issue  I  may  have  with  him,  it  will  be  of  principle 
and  not  of  personalities." 

And  so  the  debates  throughout  were  conducted  in  a 
friendly  manner,  as  by  two  gentlemen,  each  saying  that 
which  he  honestly  believed  to  be  just  and  true.  Never, 
perhaps,  were  debaters  more  equally  matched  and  at  the 
same  time  so  different  in  those  qualities  which  ordinarily 
attract  the  multitude. 

Lincoln  was  forty-nine  years  old ;    Douglas  was  three 


In  Friendly  Debate  197 

years  younger.  Lincoln  was  tall  and  gaunt,  with  a  massive 
head,  a  rough  shaven  face,  shaggy  eyebrows,  and  a  sad, 
homely  countenance  already  seamed  and  wrinkled.  Doug- 
las was  small  of  stature,  his  head  was  covered  with  a  rank 
growth  of  grizzled  hair ;  his  face,  beaming  with  intelligence, 
marked  him  as  a  man  of  power ;  his  eyes  were  piercingly 
bright ;  his  features  were  regular,  handsome,  and  attractive. 

In  speaking,  Lincoln  excelled  in  clearness  of  statement, 
simplicity,  and  purity  of  language ;  everything  that  he 
said  was  full  of  meaning,  and  he  said  no  more  than  was 
necessary  to  make  his  arguments  complete.  Douglas  was 
bold  and  dashing ;  he  never  wanted  for  a  word ;  he  hesi- 
tated at  nothing;  he  had  the  cunning  of  one  trained  to 
deception ;  his  very  manner  compelled  his  hearers  to  be- 
lieve him. 

To  the  country  people  who  flocked  to  hear  them,  Lincoln 
was  "  Old  Abe  "  or  "  Honest  Abe  "  of  Springfield  ;  Doug- 
las was  the  "  Little  Giant  of  Illinois." 

It  would  be  out  of  place  for  us  to  try  to  repeat  what 
was  said  in  those  great  debates.  The  subject  was  neces- 
sarily slavery ;  the  central  question  was  the  extension  of 
slavery.  The  Republicans  of  Illinois  were  not  Abolition- 
ists ;  they  would  have  scorned  any  proposition  to  give  the 
negroes  of  the  South  their  freedom  ;  but  for  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  they  were  resolved 
to  do  all  that  was  possible  to  confine  slavery  within  the 
states  where  it  then  existed. 

Douglas  declared  that  the  Democratic  party  was  com- 
posed of  men  in  every  part  of  the  Union,  and  was  there- 
fore national ;  the  "  Black  Republicans,"  as  he  nicknamed 


198  AbraJiavi  Lincoln 

his  opponents,  were  sectional,  and  would  not  be  permitted 
to  carry  their  doctrine  into  the  South.  Lincoln  answered 
by  saying  :  "  Are  we  to  believe,  then,  that  it  is  slavery 
which  is  national,  and  freedom  which  is  sectional  ?  Or  is 
it  the  true  test  of  the  soundness  of  a  doctrine  that  in  some 
places  people  won't  let  you  proclaim  it  ?  " 

Lincoln  quoted  that  passage  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence which  asserts  that  "all  men  are  created  equal." 
Douglas  said  that  "  the  signers  of  the  declaration  had  no 
reference  to  the  negro,  or  any  other  inferior  or  degraded 
race,"  and  that  they  meant  "only  white  men  of  European 
birth  and  descent."  Lincoln  answered  that  the  plain 
intention  of  the  signers  was  to  include  all  men,  whether 
white  or  black  ;  "  but  they  did  not  mean  to  declare  all  men 
equal  in  all  respects  —  in  color,  size,  intellect,  moral  develop- 
ment, social  capacity."  They  were  equal  "  only  in  certain 
inalienable  rights"  —  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness. 

Douglas  declaimed  against  the  course  of  the  Abolition- 
ists, who,  in  order  to  carry  out  their  own  aims,  were  stir- 
ring up  feelings  of  hatred  toward  the  South.  Lincoln 
declared  that  he  was  concerned  only  with  slavery,  and  that 
he  had  no  ill  feelings  nor  prejudices  toward  Southern  men 
and  women  who  were  the  owners  of  slaves.  "  They  are 
just  what  we  should  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery  did 
not  now  exist  among  them,  they  would  not  introduce  it. 
If  it  did  now  exist  among  us,  we  should  not  instantly  give 
it  up." 

Douglas  insisted  upon  his  doctrine  of  Popular  Sov- 
ereignty, that  the  "  voters  in  every  territory  should  have 


In  Friendly  Debate  199 

the  right  to  say  whether  slavery  should  exist  with  them  or 
not."  Lincoln  retorted  by  saying  that  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  had  declared  that  slavery  was  already  in  the  terri- 
tory, and  that  it  might  be  carried  into  any  part  of  the  Union 
without  the  consent  of  the  voters. 

The  debates  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  coun- 
try. Soon  it  became  plain  to  everybody  that  Lincoln  was 
getting  the  better  of  Douglas.  Long  before  the  last  speech 
was  made,  Douglas  himself  felt  that  he  was  worsted.  He 
lost  his  self-control;  he  became  peevish  and  fretful;  his 
voice  failed  ;  he  feared  that  disaster  was  before  him.  But 
Lincoln,  conscious  of  victory,  was  as  calm  as  ever;  his 
speech  was  as  temperate,  his  manners  as  gentle,  his  words 
as  clear  as  at  the  beginning. 

When  the  elections  were  held,  the  Republicans  polled 
four  thousand  votes  more  than  the  Democrats;  but  the 
districts  of  the  state  were  so  divided  that  the  new  legis- 
lature contained  a  majority  of  Democrats.  Douglas, 
although  beaten  in  argument,  would  be  returned  to  the 
United  States  Senate. 

Lincoln  was  disappointed.  To  be  a  senator  of  the 
United  States  was  an  honor  which  he  had  long  hoped  for. 
To  be  defeated,  after  so  manful  a  struggle,  was  indeed 
disheartening. 

"  Well,  Lincoln,"  said  one  of  his  friends  on  the  day  after 
the  election,  "  how  do  you  feel  to  be  beaten  by  the  Little 
Giant  t " 

"I  suppose,"  answered  Lincoln,  "that  I  feel  very  much 
like  the  overgrown  boy  who  stumped  his  toe." 

"  How  was  that  1 " 


2(DO  Abraham  Lincoln 

"  Well,  when  some  one  asked  him  how  he  felt,  he  said 
that  he  was  hurt  too  bad  to  laugh  and  was  too  big  to  cry." 

He  had  gained  much  more  by  the  contest,  however,  than 
any  one  supposed.  Printed  accounts  of  the  debates  had 
been  given  in  all  the  newspapers  of  the  North.  They 
were  talked  about  from  Maine  to  California.  The  name  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  hitherto  known  only  in  Illinois,  was  now 
famous  throughout  the  entire  country.  He  had  made  the 
first  direct  step  toward  the  presidency.  "  The  campaign 
of  i860  will  be  worth  a  hundred  of  this,"  he  said  ;  and  no 
matter  what  he  may  have  meant  by  the  remark,  he  was 
risrht. 


^&' 


XXII.     FANATICAL  JOHN  BROWN 

Among  the  Northern  emigrants  who  went  early  to  Kan- 
sas there  was  a  sturdy  old  antislavery  agitator  whose  name 
was  John  Brown.  John  Brown  had  hated  slavery  all  his 
life.  He  was  just  the  sort  of  man  which  the  Southern 
people  pictured  in  their  minds  when  they  spoke  the  word 
"  abolitionist."  He  was  willing  to  do  anything,  suffer  any- 
thing, if  thereby  he  could  deal  a  blow  to  slavery.  For 
twenty  years  his  life  had  been  devoted  to  the  one  idea  of 
giving  freedom  to  the  black  men  of  the  South. 

With  five  of  his  sons,  stalwart  men,  as  fearless  as  himself, 
he  made  his  home  in  the  neighborhood  of  Osawatomie, 
and  became  at  once  a  leader  among  the  free-state  settlers. 
Soon  after  the  pillaging  of  the  town  of  Lawrence  five  pro- 
slavery  men  were  brutally  murdered  by  a  party  of  unknown 
free-state  men.  It  was  claimed,  whether  justly  or  not,  that 
the  Browns  were  in  the  party,  and  two  of  the  sons  were 


Fanatical  John  Brozvn  20 1 

arrested.  The  eldest  was  taken  in  charge  by  a  company 
of  United  States  cavalry  and,  with  his  arms  tied  behind 
him,  was  driven  on  foot  at  a  rapid  rate  across  the  prairie, 
while  the  hot  sun  beat  down  upon  his  uncovered  head. 
Before  reaching  the  end  of  the  journey  he  was  insane. 
Another  one  of  the  sons  was  waylaid  and  killed,  and  his 
bleeding  body  was  thrown  into  the  door  of  his  father's 
cabin. 

Whether  these  terrible  doings  crazed  the  mind  of  old 
John  Brown,  no  one  can  tell.  But  a  few  years  later  he 
undertook  an  enterprise  which  only  a  madman  or  a  fanatic 
would  have  thought  of.  He  had  brooded  over  the  subject 
so  long  that  he  was  persuaded  that  Heaven  had  chosen 
him  as  an  instrument  to  destroy  slavery.  To  his  mind  the 
only  way  to  do  this  was  to  wage  war  upon  the  slaveholders. 
He  therefore  formed  a  plan  to  invade  the  South,  stir  up 
an  insurrection  among  the  negroes,  lay  waste  the  planta- 
tions, and  in  the  end  make  all  the  slaves  free.  He  was 
foolish  enough  to  believe  that  the  negroes  everywhere 
would  rally  to  his  aid. 

With  eighteen  men,  six  of  whom  were  colored,  he 
crossed  the  Potomac  River  at  Harpers  Ferry,  Virginia, 
and  seized  upon  the  United  States  arsenal  there.  He 
captured  one  slaveholder,  and  took  possession  of  the  arms 
in  the  arsenal.  The  citizens  rallied  to  the  defense  of  the 
town.  The  invaders  were  hemmed  in,  several  were  killed, 
and  the  rest  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  a  little  building 
called  the  engine  house.  The  news  was  telegraphed  to 
all  parts  of  the  country.  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee  of  the 
United  States  army  was  hurriedly  sent  from  Washington 


202  Abraham  Lincoln 

with  a  company  of  marines,  and  within  twenty-four  hours 
the  disturbance  was  at  an  end. 

John  Brown,  severely  wounded  with  saber  cuts  and 
bayonet  thrusts,  was  taken  prisoner  with  five  of  his  men. 
Four  of  the  band  escaped  ;  the  rest  had  been  killed  in  the 
fight. 

The  prisoners  were  hastily  brought  to  trial  before  a 
Virginia  court.  Brown  was  ably  defended  by  counsel 
from  Massachusetts.  But  the  fact  that  he  and  his  men 
had  made  an  armed  invasion  of  the  state,  that  they  had 
seized  upon  public  property,  and  that  they  had  caused  the 
death  of  five  Virginians,  could  not  be  disputed.  They 
were  quickly  convicted  and  sentenced  to  death. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  John  Brown's  sanity  or  of 
the  righteousness  of  his  cause,  his  conduct  during  his  last 
days  in  prison  was  truly  heroic.  Even  his  bitterest  ene- 
mies were  compelled  to  admire  his  courage.  "  I  can  leave 
to  God,"  he  said,  "  the  time  and  manner  of  my  death  ;  for 
I  believe  now  that  the  sealing  of  my  testimony  before  God 
and  man  with  my  blood  will  do  far  more  to  further  the 
cause  to  which  I  have  devoted  myself,  than  anything  else 
I  have  done  in  my  life." 

"  How  do  you  justify  your  acts } "  asked  Senator  Mason 
of  Virginia. 

"  I  hold,"  answered  the  old  man,  "that  the  golden  rule, 
'  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  unto 
you,'  applies  to  all  who  would  help  others  to  gain  their 
liberty.  The  cry  of  distress  of  the  oppressed  is  my  reason, 
and  the  only  thing  that  prompted  me  to  come  here.  .  .  . 
I  wish  to  say,  furthermore,  that  you  had  better  —  all  you 


Fanatical  JoJin  Brotvn  203 

people  .'it  the  Soulli  —  ])rcparc  yourselves  for  a  settlement 
of  this  question,  that  must  come  up  for  settlement  sooner 
than  you  are  prepared  for  it." 

Governor  Wise,  who  had  come  up  from  Richmond  with 
a  body  of  Virginia  militia,  was  much  impressed  by  his 
bearing.  "He  is  a  man,"  said  the  governor,  "of  clear 
head,  of  courage  and  fortitude ;  and  he  inspired  me  with 
great  trust  in  his  integrity  as  a  man  of  truth." 

Wendell  Phillips,  the  great  antislavery  leader,  said  of 
him,  "  He  has  abolished  slavery." 

James  Russell  Lowell,  the  poet,  wrote  of  him:  — 

"  Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne; 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And  behind  the  dim  unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 

Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

The  people  of  the  South  were  alarmed  beyond  measure. 
They  did  not  know  —  they  would  not  believe  —  that  John 
Brown  was  the  sole  mover  of  the  dreadful  business,  and 
that  it  would  end  with  him.  They  imagined  that  there 
was  a  general  conspiracy  throughout  the  North,  and  that 
other  companies  of  Abolitionists  were  preparing  to  invade 
the  slave  states  with  "whetted  knives  of  butchery."  We 
can  imagine  their  feelings  by  supposing  our  own  state  to 
be  suddenly  invaded  by  a  band  of  anarchists,  intent  upon 
destroying  whatever  came  in  their  way,  with  the  possibiUty 
that  other  bands  were  secretly  making  ready  to  join  them. 

The  militia  was  put  under  arms.  Calls  were  issued  for 
vohmteers  to  aid  in  defending  the  South  from  Northern 


204  Abraham  Lincoln 

invasion.  Ex-President  Tyler,  from  his  plantation,  wrote : 
"Virginia  is  arming  to  the  teeth.  More  than  fifty  thou- 
sand stand  of  arms  are  already  distributed.  But  one  sen- 
timent pervades  the  country :  security  in  the  Union,  or 
separation." 

Many  prominent  antislavery  men  in  the  North  expressed 
their  sympathy  with  John  Brown,  and  this  only  increased 
the  apprehension  of  the  South.  But  the  cooler-headed 
men  of  the  Republican  party  refused  to  indorse  his  course. 
While  they  refrained  from  abusing  Brown  himself,  they 
condemned  all  unlawful  attempts  to  interfere  with  slavery. 

William  H.  Seward,  then  the  leader  of  the  party,  declared 
that  the  raid  on  Harpers  Ferry  "was  an  act  of  treason, 
and  criminal  in  just  the  extent  that  it  affected  the  public 
peace  and  was  destructive  of  human  happiness  and  life." 

Abraham  Lincoln  compared  it  to  "  the  many  attempts 
in  history  at  the  assassination  of  kings  and  emperors," 
which  have  ended  in  little  else  than  in  the  execution  of 
the  assassin. 

On  the  other  hand,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  expressed  it  as 
his  "  firm  and  deliberate  conviction  that  the  Harpers 
Ferry  crime  was  the  natural,  logical,  inevitable  result  of 
the  doctrines  and  teachings  of  the  Republican  party." 
And  Jefferson  Davis  declared  that  this  "  invasion  of  a  state 
by  a  murderous  gang  of  Abolitionists  "  was  but  the  natural 
outcome  of  a  recent  speech  of  William  H.  Seward  in  which 
it  was  asserted  that  "an  irrepressible  conflict"  already 
existed  between  freedom  and  slavery. 

Whether  John  Brown's  fanatical  act  had  any  influence 
toward    hastening   the  end  of   slavery,  no  man  can    tell. 


Eloquence  at  Cooper  Union  205 

But  it  certainly  aroused  the  people  of  the  South  as  they 
had  not  been  aroused  before ;  it  gave  to  designing  poli- 
ticians the  means  of  inflaming  the  minds  of  ignorant  men 
and  stirring  up  an  intense  hatred  of  the  North  ;  and  it 
was  added  to  the  long  list  of  grievances  which  at  last 
afforded  to  the  Southern  states  the  excuse  to  secede  from 
the  Union. 

XXIII.     ELOQUENCE   AT   COOPER  UNION 

About   two   months   after   the    end  of   the   tragedy  at 
Harpers  Ferry,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  invited  to  visit  the  East- 
ern states  and  make  a  few  speeches  on  the  ques- 
tion which  was  then  uppermost  in  the  minds  of         „^     ^ 

i860 
all  thinking  men.     His  first  and  greatest  speech 

was  made  in  the  hall  of  Cooper  Union  in  New  York  City. 

He  was  known  as  "  Abe  Lincoln,"  the  man  from  the 
uncultured  West  who  had  out-argued  the  Little  Giant  of 
Illinois.  People  were  curious  to  hear  what  he  would  say; 
they  were  curious  to  see  what  sort  of  man  it  was  who 
had  come  out  of  the  backwoods  to  tell  them  what  they 
already  knew.  Many  scholars,  politicians,  and  critics 
were  present  at  the  meeting,  scarcely  expecting  to  hear 
anything  but  queer  stories,  coarse  jokes,  and  the  rude  ora- 
tory of  a  stump  speaker.  Most  of  the  great  audience  had 
come  together  much  as  thev  would  have  come  to  see  "  the 
wild  man  of  Borneo  "  and  hear  him  discuss  philosophy. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet, 
arose  from  his  seat  on  the  platform  and  introduced  the 
speaker.  That  which  followed  is  best  described  in  the 
words  of  one  who  was  present :  — 


2o6  Abraham  Lincoln 

"He  was  tall,  tall  —  oh,  how  tall,  and  so  angular  and 
awkward,  that  I  had,  for  an  instant,  a  feeling  of  pity  for  so 
ungainly  a  man.  His  clothes  were  black  and  ill-fitting, 
badly  wrinkled  —  as  if  they  had  been  jammed  carelessly 
into  a  small  trunk.  His  bushy  head,  with  the  stiff  black 
hair  thrown  back,  was  balanced  on  a  long  and  lean  head- 
stalk,  and  when  he  raised  his  hands  in  an  opening  gesture, 
I  noticed  that  they  were  very  large. 

"  He  began  in  a  very  low  tone  of  voice  —  as  if  he  were 
used  to  speaking  outdoors  and  was  afraid  of  speaking  too 
loud.  He  said,  'Mr.  Clieerman'  instead  of  'Mr.  Chair- 
man,' and  employed  many  other  words  with  an  old- 
fashioned  pronunciation.  I  said  to  myself :  '  Old  fellow, 
you  won't  do.  It's  all  very  well  for  the  wild  West,  but 
this  will  never  go  down  in  New  York  ! ' 

"But  pretty  soon  he  began  to  get  into  his  subject;  he 
straightened  up,  and  made  regular  and  graceful  gestures. 
His  face  lighted  as  with  an  inward  fire ;  the  whole  man 
was  transfigured.  I  forgot  his  clothes,  his  personal  appear- 
ance, and  his  individual  peculiarities.  Presently,  forget- 
ting myself,  I  was  on  my  feet  with  the  rest,  yelling  like  a 
wild  Indian,  cheering  this  wonderful  man.  In  the  close 
parts  of  his  argument,  you  could  hear  the  gentle  sizzing  of 
the  gas  burners.  When  he  reached  a  climax,  the  thunders 
of  applause  were  terrific. 

"  It  was  a  great  speech.  When  I  came  out  of  the  hall, 
my  face  glowing  with  excitement  and  my  frame  all  a-quiver, 
a  friend,  with  his  eyes  aglow,  asked  me  what  I  thought  of 
Abe  Lincoln,  the  rail  splitter.  I  said,  '  He's  the  greatest 
man  since  St.  Paul !  '     And  I  think  so  yet." 


Eloquence  at  Cooper  Union  207 

It  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  ever  heard 
in  any  part  of  our  country.  Everybody  that  hstened  to 
it  was  astonished.  Everybody  was  pleased.  No  college 
graduate  of  the  cultured  East,  no  orator  trained  in  the 
halls  of  Congress,  could  have  delivered  a  speech  so 
scholarly,  so  calm,  so  dignified,  so  convincing.  It  was 
brief,  but  it  seemed  to  leave  nothing  more  to  be  said.  It 
reviewed  the  whole  subject  of  slavery  in  the  territories. 
Its  arguments  against  the  extension  of  slavery  were  so 
conclusive  that  no  man  has  ever  been  able  to  reply  to 
them.  "  Let  us  have  faith,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  end, 
—  "  let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might ;  and  in  that 
faith,  let  us  to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we  under- 
stand it." 

The  speech  was  published  the  next  day  in  all  the  New 
York  papers.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  won  the  esteem  of  the 
most  thoughtful  men  in  the  East.  They  said  to  him  at 
parting,  "  Be  true  to  your  principles,  and  we  will  be  true 
to  you,  and  God  will  be  true  to  us  all." 

And  he  answered :  "  I  say  Amen  to  that !  Amen  to 
that!" 


BOOK   THE   THIRD  — PERFORMANCE 

I.     "ABRAHAM    LINCOLN,  THE    RAIL   CANDIDATE" 

ON  the  loth  of  May  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  were 
holding  a  state  convention  at  Decatur.  The  great 
hall,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  was  filled  with  delegates 
and  enthusiastic  party  men  from  every  county 
in  the  state.  The  governor  of  Illinois  was  the 
chairman  of  the  convention. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  there  is  with  us  at  this  meeting 
a  distinguished  citizen  whom  the  people  of  our  state  delight 
to  honor.  I  take  pleasure  in  suggesting  that  he  be  invited 
to  a  place  on  the  platform." 

At  once,  amid  a  tumult  of  applause,  a  tall  man,  dressed 
in  an  ill-fitting  suit  of  black,  was  lifted  over  the  heads  of 
the  crowd  and  passed  along  on  the  upraised  hands  of  the 
delegates  to  the  speakers'  stand.  It  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 
As  he  regained  his  feet  and  stood  up  before  the  conven- 
tion, every  man  present  arose  and  shouted,  and  shouted, 
and  shouted,  until  it  seemed  that  the  storm  of  applause 
would  never  end.  At  length,  when  there  was  a  slight  lull 
in  the  tumult,  the  governor  spoke  again  :  — 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  informed  that  there  is  an  old  Demo- 
crat waiting  outside  of  the  hall,  who  has  something  that  he 
wishes  to  present  to  this  convention." 

"  Let  him  come  in !     Let  him  come  in  !  "  shouted  the 


delegates. 


208 


"  Abra/iav!  Li/ico/n,   the  Rail  Candidate"' 


>09 


A  side  door  near  the  platform  was  opened,  and  an  old 
Illinois  farmer,  wrinkled  and  sunbrowned  and  gray-bearded, 
came  in.  It  was  John  Hanks  —  the  same  John  Hanks 
who,  thirty  years  before,  had  persuaded  Thomas  Lincoln 
to  emigrate  to  Illinois.  On  his  shoulder  he  carried  two 
weatherworn  fence  rails,  above  which  was  a  small  banner 
bearing  these  words  :  — 


ABRAHAM     I.IXrOl.X 

Thk   Rail  CANnii).\TF, 
For  Pkesident  i\   i860 


Two  rails  from  a  lot   of  3000  made  in  1830 
by  John  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln 


The  scene  that  followed  cannot  be  described.  The  con- 
vention was  wild  with  enthusiasm.  For  many  minutes  the 
delegates  continued  shouting,  stamping  their  feet,  and 
waving  their  hats,  utterly  forgetful  of  order.  At  length 
they  became  quiet  from  very  exhaustion,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  his  half-timid  manner  began  to  speak  :  — 

"  I  suppose  I  am  expected  to  reply  to  that,"  he  said. 
"  I  cannot  say  whether  I  made  those  rails  or  not,  but  I  am 
quite  sure  I  have  made  a  great  many  just  as  good." 

And  then,  before  saying  anvthing  about  politics,  he  gave 
a  little  account  of  the  first  vear  that  he  had  spent  in  Illinois, 
and  of  his  helping  his  father  build  his  cabin  and  plant  his 
first  crop  of  corn. 

LINCOLN — 14 


210  Abraham  Lincoln 

The  men  of  the  convention  knew  that  he  could  do  other 
things  besides  split  rails.  They  resolved  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  the  man  whom  the  Republicans  of  Illinois 
would  support  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 

II.     BALLOTING   AT   CHICAGO 

A  week  later,  the  national  convention  of  the  Republican 
party  met  at  Chicago.  A  great  building,  called  the 
"Wigwam,"  had  been  put  up  expressly  for  the  meeting. 
Twenty-five  thousand  strangers  were  in  the  city,  which 
then  contained  only  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 
Delegates  were  there  from  every  free  state  and  from  the 
slave  states  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
and  Missouri. 

The  principles  which  the  party  was  pledged  to  support 
were  briefly  stated  :  — 

"  The  natural  condition  of  the  territories  is  freedom. 

"  No  lawmaking  power  in  the  country  can  create  slavery 
where  it  does  not  now  exist. 

"  Kansas  ought  to  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  free 
state. 

"The  opening  of  the  slave  trade  would  be  a  crime 
iigainst  humanity." 

The  chief  work  to  be  done  by  the  convention  was  to 
name  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 
There  were  many  able  men  in  the  party  who  were  anxious 
to  be  chosen  and  who  had  powerful  friends  to  urge  their 
nomination. 

Foremost  among  these  was  William  H.  Seward  of  New 


Balloting  at  Chicago  2II 

York.  He  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  had  been  the  governor  of  the  greatest  state  in 
the  Union.  He  had  been  in  the  United  States  Senate  for 
nearly  twelve  years.  By  nature  and  training  he  was  a 
leader  of  men.  He  represented  the  wealth  and  culture  of 
the  Eastern  states. 


The  Wigwam 

Edward  Bates  of  Missouri,  an  accomplished  lawyer  and 
friend  of  free  labor,  was  favored  by  several  men  of  influence 
in  the  East.  He  would  attract  votes  from  the  South.  If 
the  Republican  party  should  nominate  him,  a  Southern 
man,  it  could  no  longer  be  accused  of  being  purely 
sectional. 

A  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  named  Simon 
Cameron.     He  was  a  shrewd  politician  and  bold  partisan, 


212  Abraham   Lincoln 

but  wrongfully  suspected  at  that  time  of  having  too  much 
sympathy  with  the  South. 

The  Ohio  delegation  named  Salmon  P.  Chase,  a  life- 
long enemy  of  slavery,  and  formerly  a  leader  of  the  Liberty 
party.  He  was  descended  from  a  long  line  of  worthy  an- 
cestors, and  represented  the  higher  culture  and  intelligence 
of  the  West.  He  had  been  a  senator  of  the  United  States, 
and  had  been  twice  elected  to  the  governorship  of  Ohio. 

The  Illinois  delegation  named  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Throughout  the  country  it  was  generally  supposed  that 
Seward  would  be  the  choice  of  the  convention.  His 
friends  made  use  of  every  means  to  secure  his  nomination. 
They  paraded  the  streets  with  banners  and  brass  bands, 
yelhng,  "  Hurrah  for  Seward !  "  They  hired  men  to  stand 
in  different  parts  of  the  Wigwam  and  yell  every  time 
Seward's  name  was  mentioned.  At  the  hotels,  on  the 
street  corners,  everywhere,  they  seemed  to  be  the  majority. 

On  the  third  day  the  balloting  began.  The  excitement 
was  intense.  As  each  candidate  was  named,  his  friends 
filled  the  hall  with  deafening  applause.  When  the  name 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  spoken,  an  Illinois  man  standing 
on  the  platform  began  to  wave  a  white  handkerchief. 
Instantly,  at  each  end  of  the  Wigwam,  there  began  a  roar 
of  shouts  such  as  had  never  before  been  heard  in  Chicago. 
Thousands  of  men  joined  in  the  shouting  ;  thousands  of 
women  waved  their  handkerchiefs  and  clapped  their 
hands ;  it  was  plain  that  the  friends  of  the  "  rail  splitter  " 
could  cheer  as  lustily  as  the  hired  shouters  for  Seward. 

The  first  ballot  showed  that  the  fight  was  to  be  between 
Seward    and   Lincoln   and    no   others.       Seward   received 


Balloting  at  Chicago  213 

173^  votes,  Lincoln  102  ;  the  remaining  189J  votes  were 
scattered  among  several  persons.  As  there  were  465 
delegates,  it  was  necessary  that  the  successful  candidate 
should  receive  at  least  233  votes,  or  more  than  half  of 
the  entire  number. 

A  second  ballot  was  taken.  This  time  Seward  gained 
eleven  votes  ;  but  Lincoln  gained  seventy-nine.  The  white 
handkerchief  was  again  waved  from  the  platform,  and  again 
the  vast  hall  was  filled  with  the  thunders  of  applause. 
There  was  a  general  movement  among  the  delegates. 
The  friends  of  Seward  were  beginning  to  lose  heart. 

A  third  ballot,  and  Lincoln  had  23 1;}  votes.  The  leader 
of  the  Ohio  delegation  sprang  to  his  feet.  "Ohio,"  cried 
he,  "changes  four  votes  from  Chase  to  Lincoln."  That 
settled  the  matter.  Immediately  there  were  other  changes ; 
and  when  the  vote  was  announced,  Lincoln  had  254  votes. 

If  the  enthusiasm  had  been  great  before,  it  was  now 
overwhelming.  "  Such  a  scene  as  was  presented,"  says 
one  who  was  there,  "  had  never  before  been  witnessed  at 
a  convention.  A  herd  of  buffaloes  or  lions  could  not  have 
made  a  more  tremendous  roaring."  Cries  of  "  Hurrah  for 
Old  Abe  !  "  "  Hurrah  for  the  rail  splitter  !  "  "  Hurrah  for 
Lincoln !  "  were  drowned  in  the  general  uproar ;  and  the 
shouts  of  tens  of  thousands  attested  the  general  satisfac- 
tion that  a  man  so  worthy  and  so  strong  had  been  chosen 
to  be  the  party's  candidate  for  President. 

In  the  untidy  office  of  the  Sf^ringficld  Joimial,  where 
the  air  was  odorous  with  printer's  ink,  sat  Abraham  Lin- 
coln.    He  tilted  his  chair  back  against  the  wall;  he  was 


214  "^  bra  ha  m   L  incoln 

ill  at  ease,  anxious,  and  silent.  Two  or  three  friendly 
lawyers  were  present,  speculating  on  what  was  going  on 
at  Chicago.  The  editor  of  Xh^  Journal  was  leaning  over 
his  desk ;  a  few  loafers  were  lounging  about  the  door. 

The  messenger  from  the  telegraph  office  ran  in  with  an 
open  message  in  his  hand.  Lincoln  read  it  silently,  and 
then  handed  it  to  his  friend,  the  editor.  There  was  a 
moment  of  hearty  congratulation.  The  news  spread.  A 
crowd  was  gathering.  Shouts  were  heard  in  the  street, 
"  Hurrah  for  Honest  Abe  !  " 

"  There  is  a  little  woman  down  the  street,"  said  Lincoln, 
"  who  will  be  pleased  to  know  about  this.  I  think  I  will 
go  and  tell  her." 


III.     REVOLT   AT   CHARLESTON 

Let  us  go  back  three  weeks  in  our  story. 

On  the  23d  of  April  the  Democratic  party  held 
its  national  convention  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Delegates  were  there  from  every  state  in  the 
Union.  Most  of  those  from  the  North  now 
saw  slavery  for  the  first  time.  They  visited  the  slave 
markets ;  they  saw  human  beings  bought  and  sold ;  they 
saw  how  great  wealth  had  been  accumulated  through  the 
sweat  and  toil  of  unpaid  laborers ;  they  formed  their  own 
opinions  of  Southern  prosperity,  and  determined  to  vote 
accordingly. 

The  convention  met  in  a  small  hall ;  not  many  strangers 
came  from  other  parts  of  the  country  to  hurrah  for  their 


Revolt  at  Cliarleston  ■  215 

favorite  candidate ;  there  was  no  boisterous  cheering,  for 
every  one  present  felt  that  a  crisis  was  at  hand. 

Five  days  were  spent  in  framing  a  declaration  of 
principles.  On  the  fifth  day,  Senator  Yancey  of  Alabama, 
the  most  eloquent  orator  of  the  South,  delivered  a  power- 
ful speech  in  defense  of  the  claims  of  his  own  people. 
It  was  addressed  mainly  to  the  delegates  from  the  North. 
"You  acknowledged,"  he  said,  "that  slavery  does  not 
exist  by  the  law  of  nature  or  by  the  law  of  God  —  that 
it  only  exists  by  state  law ;  that  it  is  wrong,  but  that  you 
are  not  to  blame.  If  you  had  taken  the  position  directly 
that  slavery  was  right,  and  therefore  ought  to  be,  you 
would  have  triumphed,  and  antislavery  would  now  have 
been  dead  in  your  midst.  .  .  .  When  I  was  a  school- 
boy in  the  North,  Abolitionists  were  pelted  with  rotten 
eggs.  But  now  this  band  of  Abolitionists  has  spread  into 
three  bands  —  the  Black  RepubUcans,  the  Free-soilers, 
and  the  squatter-sovereignty  men  —  all  representing  the 
common  sentiment  that  slavery  is  wrong." 

Immediately  Senator  Pugh  of  Ohio,  the  stanch  friend 
of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  sprang  to  his  feet.  He  thanked 
God  that  a  true  son  of  the  South  had  spoken  out  boldly 
and  told  the  whole  truth  regarding  the  wishes  of  Southern 
Democrats.  "You  demand,"  said  he,  "that  we  of  the 
North  shall  say  that  slavery  is  right  and  ought  to  be 
extended.  Gentlemen  of  the  South,  you  mistake  us  — 
you  mistake  us :  we  will  not  do  it." 

On  the  eighth  day  a  platform  of  principles  which  had 
been  suggested  and  sanctioned  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
was  proposed.     The  delegates   from  the  Northern  states 


2i6  AbraJiam   Lincoln 

voted  for  it ;  those  from  the  Southern  states  voted  against 
it.     It  was  adopted. 

The  leader  of  the  delegation  from  Alabama  protested 
that  the  platform  did  not  express  the  wishes  of  the  South ; 
and  every  delegate  from  his  state  arose  and  left  the  hall. 
They  were  followed  by  the  delegations  from  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Texas,  and  Arkansas, 
all  protesting  that  the  rights  of  the  South  had  been 
invaded,  trampled  upon. 

It  was  a  solemn  moment.  The  great  Democratic  party 
that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  brief  years,  had  con- 
trolled our  government  for  half  a  century,  was  rent  in 
twain.  The  Northern  delegates  were  alarmed.  Some 
even  shed  tears.  "  Is  this  the  first  act  in  the  breaking 
up  of  the  Union  of  states .'' "  they  asked  of  one  another. 

The  best  men  of  the  South  were  stricken  with  dismay. 
"The  seceders  from  the  convention,"  said  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  of  Georgia,  "  intended  from  the  beginning  to 
rule  or  ruin ;  and  when  they  find  they  cannot  rule,  they 
will  ruin.  ...  In  less  than  twelve  months  we  shall  be  in 
a  war,  and  that  the  bloodiest  in  history.  Men  seem  to 
be  utterly  blinded  to  the  future." 

The  delegates  who  remained  in  the  convention  tried 
next  to  select  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  They 
balloted  for  three  days  without  reaching  an  agreement. 
Then  they  adjourned  to  meet  again  in  June,  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore. 

But  in  Baltimore  the  wrangling  was  renewed.  Some  of 
the  delegates  who  had  seceded  at  Charleston  were  in  the 


Revolt  at  Charleston  21/ 

city,  but  they  took  no  part  in  the  convention.  The 
delegates  from  Virginia  and  from  most  of  the  other  slave 
states  withdrew.  Those  who  remained  then  proceeded 
to  select  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  On  the  second 
ballot  they  chose  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois. 

The  Southern  delegates  met  in  another  hall.  Every- 
thing had  been  arranged  beforehand.  They  adopted  a 
platform  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  politicians  of  their  states.  They  nominated  John  C. 
Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  as  their  candidate  for  the 
presidency. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  remnants  of  the  old  Whig  party, 
with  some  others  who  thought  that  the  best  way  to  deal 
with  slavery  was  to  say  nothing  about  it,  met  also  in  con- 
vention at  Baltimore.  Some  of  these  men  were  from  the 
North,  some  were  from  the  South,  and  every  one  was  a 
patriot.  Their  platform  was,  "  The  Constitution  of  the 
country,  the  Union  of  the  states,  and  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws."  They  called  themselves  the  Union  party,  and 
nominated  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  for  President. 

There  were,  therefore,  in  the  field  four  parties  and  four 
candidates  for  the  presidency.  And  the  great  question 
that  divided  the  people  was  the  question  of  slavery.  "  If 
the  Republicans  elect  their  candidate,"  said  the  slavehold- 
ing  politicians,  "  all  hopes  of  the  South  regaining  her 
power  will  be  gone,  and  the  Southern  states  must  secede 
from  the  Union." 

"What  is  to  become  of  us  then,"  said  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  "  God  only  knows." 


2i8  Abraham  Lincoln 


rV.    A   GLOOMY   PROSPECT 

Election  day  came  and  passed  off  quietly.  The  result 
was  as  everybody  had  foreseen.  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
chosen  to  be  the  next  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  Republicans  had  carried  every  Northern  state  except 
New  Jersey. 

"  This  is  a  great  victory,"  wrote  the  poet  Longfellow. 
"  It  is  the  redemption  of  the  country.  Freedom  is 
triumphant." 

In  South  Carolina,  a  full  month  before  the  election,  the 
governor  and  political  leaders  had  put  everything  in 
readiness  for  secession.  "  Southern  rights  at  all  hazards  !  " 
was  the  cry.  The  state  was  aflame  with  the  idea  of  inde- 
pendence from  the  Union. 

When  the  news  came  that  Lincoln  was  elected,  there 
was  much  rejoicing.  "  It  is  better  thus,"  said  the  politi- 
cians. "  Our  people  will  never  consent  to  be  ruled  by  a 
Black  Republican."  And  throughout  the  South  the  word 
was  passed  among  the  common  people  that  the  newly 
elected  President,  "  Old  Abe,"  was  not  only  a  Black  Re- 
publican, but  that  he  had  black  blood  in  his  veins.  It  was 
even  asserted  and  believed  that  he  was  not  a  human  being, 
but  a  sort  of  trained  gorilla  which  the  Abolitionists  had 
put  forward  in  order  to  humiliate  the  South  and  carry  out 
their  own  selfish  designs.  This  monster,  it  was  said, 
whom  the  Black  Republicans  had  raised  to  the  presidency, 
was  pledged  not  only  to  give  freedom  to  the  slaves  but  to 
give  to  every  "nigger"  equal  rights  with  white  men. 


A   Gloomy  Prospect  219 

"Will  you  submit  to  be  ruled  by  such  a  creature?" 
they  were  asked. 

"  Never !     Never !  "  was  the  reply. 

At  Charleston,  six  weeks  after  the  election,  a  state  con- 
vention was  called.  Men  and  women  were  wild  with 
enthusiasm.  The  leaders  in  the  convention  marched  in  a 
body  to  St.  Michael's  churchyard,  and  standing  around  the 
grave  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  took  a  solemn  oath  to  give 
their  fortunes  and  their  lives,  if  need  be,  in  defense  of  the 
doctrine  of  States'  Rights.  A  resolution  was  passed,  de- 
claring that  South  Carolina  dissolved  all  connection  with 
the  United  States,  and  that  she  was,  and  by  right  ought 
to  be,  a  free  and  independent  state.  Cannon  boomed, 
men  shouted,  women  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  and  the 
palmetto  flag  of  South  Carolina  was  unfurled  to  the  breeze. 

From  the  White  House  at  Washington  James  Buchanan 
watched  the  course  of  events.  He  had  yet  nearly  three 
months  to  serve  as  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
saw  the  country  divided,  our  flag  dishonored,  the  Union 
crumbling  to  pieces.  "  I  have  no  power  to  interfere,"  he 
said.  And  it  was,  perhaps,  with  a  feeling  of  secret  satis- 
faction that  he  believed  himself  to  be  the  last  President 
of  the  republic  of  which  Washington  had  been  the  first. 
An  army  of  South  Carolinians  was  threatening  the  forts 
of  the  United  States  in  Charleston  harbor.  "I  have  no 
power  to  interfere,"  he  said.  How  different  from  Andrew 
Jackson  and  his  stern  declaration,  "  The  Union  must  be 
preserved  !  " 

The  advisers  of  the  President  were  either  Southern  men  or 
Northern  men  with  Southern  sympathies.     The  Secretary 


\ 


220 


Abraham  Lincoln 


of  the  Treasury,  who  was  a  Georgian,  contrived  by  a  series 
of  financial  blunders  to  destroy  the  credit  of  the  United 
States,  thus  leaving  the  treasury  empty.  The  Secretary  of 
War,  who  was  a  Virginian,  took  measures  to  disarm  the 
free  states  by  removing  the  guns  and  other  weapons  from 
the  national  arsenals  and  sending  them  to  the  South. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  was  from  Connecticut, 

scattered  our  ships  of 
war  in  distant  seas,  so 
that  his  successor  would 
be  long  in  calling  them 
to  the  aid  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

In  one  of  the  rooms 
in  the  capitol  at  Wash- 
ington, six  United  States 
senators  arranged  a  plan 
for  seizing  all  the  forts 
and  government  prop- 
erty in  the  Gulf  states, 
and  prepared  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of 
those  states,  urging 
them  to  follow  South  Carolina  and  secede  from  the 
Union.  And  James  Buchanan,  sitting  with  folded  hands  in 
the  White  House,  said,  "  I  have  no  power  to  interfere ! " 
Soon  Florida  seceded,  and  then  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  and  Texas.  Delegates  from  these  states 
met  at  Montgomery,  in  Alabama,  and  formed  a  new  gov- 
ernment   which    they    called    the    Confederate    States    of 


Jefferson  Davis 


A   Gloomy  Pivspcct  221 

America.  They  adopted  a  constitution  similar  to  that 
of  the  United  States,  but  recognizing  and  protecting 
slavery.  They  chose  Jefferson  Davis  to  be  president, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  to  be  vice  president  of  the 
confederacy. 

"  A  glorious  future  is  before  us,"  said  Jefferson  Davis. 
"The  grass  will  grow  in  the  Northern  cities  where  the 
pavements  have  been  worn  off  by  the  tread  of  commerce. 
We  will  carry  war  where  food  for  the  sword  and  torch 
await  our  armies  in  the  densely  peopled  cities." 

And  in  the  North  there  were  multitudes  of  men  who 
were  ready  to  forget  their  own  interests,  neglect  their 
duty  to  their  country,  and  bid  the  confederacy  "  God 
speed !  " 

"  If  the  great  body  of  the  Southern  people  wish  to 
escape  from  the  Union,  we  will  do  our  best  to  forward 
their  views,"  said  Horace  Greeley,  the  Republican  leader. 

"  If  there  is  to  be  fighting,  it  will  be  within  our  own 
borders  and  in  our  own  streets, "  said  ex-President  Frank- 
lin Pierce  of  New  Hampshire. 

"  Denunciations  of  slavery  and  the  slave  power  are  acts 
of  injustice  to  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  South  and  must  be 
frowned  down  by  a  just  and  law-abiding  people,"  said  the 
mayor  of  Philadelphia. 

"  Let  the  Southern  states  secede  from  the  Union  if  they 
choose ;  and  I  propose  that  the  city  of  New  York  shall 
follow  them,"  said  the  mayor  of  New  York. 

"  Let  us  compromise  with  the  South  before  it  is  too 
late,"  said  the  Republicans  of  Boston. 

The  South  was  jubilant,  confident,  fearless.     The  North 


222  AbraJiani  Lincoln 

was  in  despair,  wavering,  almost  ready  to  cry,  "Mercy!  " 
almost  willing  to  do  anything  that  was  required. 

And  James  Buchanan,  sitting  with  folded  hands  in  the 
White  House,  dictated  a  proclamation  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  appointing  a  day  for  humiliation  and  prayer. 

A  little  steamer,  the  Star  of  the  West,  carrying  the 
United  States  flag,  was  about  to  enter  Charleston  harbor 
with  provisions  and  supplies  for  the  soldiers  in  the  forts. 
She  was  fired  upon  by  South  Carolina  cannoneers  and 
forced  to  retire. 

"  Your  flag  has  been  insulted !  "  cried  Southern  brava- 
does. "  Redress  it  if  you  dare.  You  have  submitted  to  it 
for  two  months,  and  you  will  submit  to  it  forever." 

And  James  Buchanan  sat  in  the  White  House  and  said, 
*'  I  have  no  power  to  interfere." 

All  along  the  Gulf  coast  the  Confederates  took  posses- 
sion of  the  forts  ;  they  hauled  down  the  American  flag  and 
hoisted  their  own ;  they  seized  the  arsenal  at  Baton 
Rouge ;  they  demanded  that  a  revenue  cutter  stationed  at 
New  Orleans  should  be  surrendered  to  the  state. 

President  Buchanan  had  been  obliged  to  select  a  new 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  he  had  chosen  John  A. 
Dix,  an  old  Democrat  of  New  York.  And  it  was  then 
that  Mr.  Dix  sent  flashing  over  the  wires  to  New  Orleans 
that  famous  dispatch,  "  If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down 
the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 

That  telegram  was  the  first  sign  of  fighting  temper  yet 
shown  in  the  North.  Those  few  ringing  words  stirred  up 
dying  patriotism,  they  aroused  enthusiasm,  they  kindled 
courage.     Men  awoke  from  their  stupor. 


Heart  attd  Head  223 

'*  Hurrah  for  the  old  flag  !  "  was  the  shout  that  went  up 
from  Maine  to  Cahfornia.  "The  American  flag  shall  not 
be  hauled  down  !  " 

And  the  tide  began  to  turn. 


V.     HEART   AND   HEAD 

Where  was  Abraham  Lincoln  during  these  days  of 
tumult  and  doubt?  He  was  not  in  his  law  office;  he  was 
not  at  home  with  his  family ;  he  was  not  in  any 
of  the  places  where  his  friends  were  accustomed 
to  see  him.  In  a  little  room  over  a  store,  the  door  locked 
behind  him,  he  sat  alone,  writing  his  inaugural  address 
and  pondering  upon  the  momentous  issues  which  he  alone 
was  to  solve. 

No  man  felt  the  gravity  of  the  situation  so  deeply  as  he. 
Although  chosen  to  be  the  leader  of  the  nation,  he  seemed 
to  stand  alone.  Men  of  his  own  party  were  ashamed  of 
the  enthusiasm  which  had  brought  about  his  election. 
"Why  did  we  vote  for  that  rail  splitter  of  Illinois  and 
bring  all  this  trouble  upon  the  country  .?  "  they  asked  them- 
selves. 

Men  whom  he  might  have  expected  to  sympathize 
with  him  were  his  enemies.  "Who  is  this  huckster  in 
politics  }  Who  is  this  slave  hound  of  Illinois .?  "  sneered 
Wendell  Phillips,  the  leader  of  the  Abolitionists. 

But  Abraham  Lincoln  never  faltered.  He  had  set  his 
face  toward  the  goal,  and  he  was  resolved  not  to  swerve 
from  the  right  though  the  heavens  should  fall. 

The  time  came  for  him  to  go  to  Washington.     He  bade 


224  Abraham  Lincoln 

his  friends  at  Springfield  good-by.  "A  great  duty  de- 
volves upon  me,"  he  said,  "  a  greater  duty,  perhaps,  than 
has  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of 
Washington.  ...  I  hope  that  you,  my  friends,  will  pray 
that  I  may  receive  that  divine  assistance  without  which 
I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain." 

This  farewell  speech  was  telegraphed  all  over  the  North. 
It  was  printed  in  the  newspapers.  Thoughtless  people 
sneered.  "Old  Abe  himself  is  frightened,"  they  said. 
"  He  is  asking  his  friends  to  pray  for  him." 

Nevertheless,  it  is  probable  that  a  majority  of  the  most 
earnest  and  patriotic  people  of  the  North  were  ready  to 
support  and  sympathize  with  the  man  whom  they  had 
chosen  as  their  standard  bearer. 

At  all  the  large  cities  on  the  route  great  crowds  of 
people  assembled  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln  as  he  passed  through. 
Some  came  to  do  him  honor,  but  the  multitude  only  to 
gratify  an  idle  curiosity.  At  each  stopping  place  he  made 
a  little  address, — brief,  full  of  meaning,  and  yet  con- 
taining no  forecast  of  the  poHcy  he  intended  to  pursue. 

•'  My  heart,  I  know,  is  right,"  he  said;  "but  the  future 
must  decide  whether  my  head  is  equal  to  the  task  that  is 
before  me." 

"But  how  about  the  South.?  Are  we  going  to  have 
war.?  "  asked  the  timid-hearted. 

"  There  is  no  necessity  for  it,"  answered  Lincoln.  "  I 
am  not  in  favor  of  such  a  course ;  and  I  may  say  in  ad- 
vance that  there  will  be  no  bloodshed  unless  it  be  forced 
upon  the  government,  and  then  it  will  be  compelled  to  aci 
in  self-defense." 


AbraJiavi  Lincoln,   President  225 

VI.     ABRAHAM    LINCOLN,    I'RI'lSIDENT 

The  4th  of  March  came  —  the  day  for  the  inaugura- 
tion. In  Washington  the  morning  broke  clear  and  cool, 
the  peace  that  reigned  in  air  and  sky  giving  no 
token  of  the  storm  and  tumult  in  men's  minds. 
Threats  had  been  openly  made  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should 
never  take  the  oath  of  office.  The  city  was  full  of  his 
enemies.  Timid,  yielding  politicians  from  the  North  — 
"doughfaces,"  as  they  were  nicknamed  —  conferred  with 
Southern  sympathizers  as  to  some  means  of  preventing 
the  inauguration. 

But  General  Winfield  Scott,  the  commander  of  the 
United  States  army,  was  early  at  the  capitol  with  a  body 
of  soldiers.  The  police  of  Washington  were  alert  to  pre- 
vent every  disturbance.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
rallied  to  the  city,  determined  to  defend  him. 

At  the  appointed  hour  a  procession  of  notable  men 
passed  out  of  the  Senate  Chamber  and  ascended  to  the 
platform  prepared  for  the  occasion.  In  that  procession 
were  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  President-elect,  the  Vice  President 
and  his  successor,  senators,  congressmen,  many  distin- 
guished foreign  ministers,  and  governors  of  states. 
Before  and  around  the  platform  was  a  seething  multitude 
of  anxious,  excited  men  of  all  classes  and  parties.  Flank- 
ing the  immense  gathering  were  the  soldiers  under  Gen- 
eral Scott,  drawn  up  in  arms. 

When  all  had  taken  their  places,  Mr.  Lincoln  stepped 
forward  to  read   his  address.      He  was  greeted   with   but 

LINCOLN  —  115 


226  Abraham  Lincoln 

feeble  applause.  His  enemies  were  many  and  bold.  His 
friends  were  anxious  and  fearful. 

The  address  was  long,  but  no  longer  than  was  neces- 
sary for  a  clear  statement  of  the  problems  which  the 
country  required  him  to  solve.  As  a  matter  of  course,  it 
dealt  mainly  with  the  question  of  secession  from  the 
Union,  and  much  of  it  was  addressed  to  the  people  of 
the  South. 

"  Physically  speaking,"  he  said,  "  we  cannot  separate. 
We  cannot  remove  our  sections  from  each  other,  or  build 
an  impassable  wall  between  them.  ...  Is  it  possible  to 
make  intercourse  more  advantageous  after  separation  than 
before  }  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can 
make  laws } 

"  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight  always ;  and 
when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on 
either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  questions  as  to 
terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you. 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  T/te 
government  will  not  assail  you. 

"  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to 
destroy  the  government ;  while  I  shall  have  the  most 
solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it. 

"  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not 
break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

"  The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every 
battlefield   and  every  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart 


Abraham  Lincoln,  President 


228  Abraham  Lincoln 

and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  %vill  yet  swell  tJu 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

With  these  solemn  and  prophetic  words  the  address  was 
brought  to  a  close.  Then  the  venerable  Chief  Justice  of 
the  United  States,  Roger  B.  Taney,  stepped  forward,  and 
with  trembling  voice  administered  the  oath  of  office. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  first  to  congratulate  him  was  his  hfelong  rival, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Mr.  Douglas  had  held  the  Presi- 
dent's hat  while  he  was  speaking.  He  now  grasped  his 
hand  with  the  warmth  of  old-time  friendship,  and  assured 
him  that,  no  matter  what  might  befall,  he  would  stand  by 
him  and  aid  him  in  upholding  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws.  It  was  a  noble  act.  The  "  Rail  Splitter  of  Illinois  " 
and  the  "  Little  Giant  of  the  West"  were  no  longer  rivals, 
they  were  friends  and  fellow-workers. 

But  that  4th  of  March  offered  no  bright  promises  for 
the  future.  The  leaders  of  secession  in  the  South  knew 
now  that  if  there  was  to  be  war,  they  themselves  must 
begin  it.  In  the  North  it  seemed  to  be  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion that  the  Union  was  broken  up.  There  were  many 
who  were  still  willing  to  give  up  everything  to  the  South. 

"  To  force  the  Southern  states  to  remain  in  the  Union 
would  be  an  act  of  despotism,"  said  WilHam  H.  Seward, 
the  Republican. 

"  If  the  Southern  states  think  that  they  ought  to  have 
a  separate  government,  they  have  a  right  to  decide  that 
question  without  appealing  to  you  or  me,"  said  Wendell 
Phillips,  the  Abolitionist. 


Men  of  the  Cabinet  229 

But  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  Democrat,  said :  "  If  the 
Southern  states  attempt  to  secede,  I  am  in  favor  of  their 
having  just  so  many  slaves,  and  just  so  much  slave  terri- 
tory as  they  can  hold  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  no 
more." 

And  President  Lincoln,  with  that  sad,  far-away  look  in 
his  face,  and  with  a  sublime  faith  that  the  right  would 
surely  prevail,  entered  the  White  House,  and  took  upon 
his  shoulders  the  burden  of  saving  the  republic. 

VII.     MEN    OF   THE    CABINET 

Among  the  men  whom  President  Lincoln  selected  for 

his    cabinet    there    were    four   whose    names    are    already 

known  to    us.       They  were   the    men  who   had 

1801 
competed    with     him     for     the     nomination     at 

Chicago. 

William  H.  Seward,  the  antislavery  statesman,  scholar, 
gentleman,  shrewd  politician,  was  the  Secretary  of  State. 
Imperious,  proud,  and  scarcely  concealing  his  bitter  disap- 
pointment, he  almost  felt  it  a  humiliation  to  take  office 
under  the  man  of  the  West. 

Simon  Cameron,  the  Pennsylvania  leader,  was  the 
Secretary  of  War.  P'earless,  aggressive,  full  of  pluck  and 
energy,  he  seemed  the  ideal  man  for  the  difficult  duties  of 
that  responsible  position. 

Salmon  P.  Chase,  the  well-born,  accomplished  governor 
of  Ohio,  the  ablest  of  Western  Abolitionists,  was  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury.  Dignified,  sedate,  earnest,  judicious, 
he  would  be  a  safe  counselor  and  a  wise  manager. 


230  Abraham  Lincoln 

Edward  Bates,  the  Missourian,  the  gentlemanly  lawyer, 
the  foe  of  the  slave  power  in  his  own  state,  was  the  Attor- 
ney General. 

The  other  members  of  the  cabinet  were  men  of  less 
note.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  Gideon  Welles, 
then  scarcely  known  outside  of  New  England.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana. 
The  Postmaster  General  was  Montgomery  Blair  of  Mary- 
land, a  politician  of  large  influence  in  the  middle  South. 

Every  action  of  the  new  President  was  criticised  in  the 
North.  Certain  RepubUcans  complained  that  he  was 
leaning  toward  the  Democrats.  His  cabinet,  they  said, 
contained  four  ex-Democrats  and  only  three  ex-Whigs. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  he  answered,  "  since  I  myself  am  an 
ex-Whig,  we  shall  be  pretty  well  balanced." 

His  friends  wondered  that  he  should  have  chosen  his 
political  rivals  to  be  his  counselors.  Would  not  jealousy 
and  disappointment  on  their  part  lead  them  to  wish  to  make 
his  administration  a  failure .''  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  think  so. 
He  had  great  confidence  in  the  sterling  character  of  these 
men.  He  did  not  believe  that  they  would  stoop  to  mean- 
ness in  order  to  serve  any  selfish  purpose. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said  to  them,  "  it  will  require  the  ut- 
most skill  on  the  part  of  all  of  us  to  save  the  republic. 
Let  us  forget  ourselves  and  join  hands  like  brothers.  If 
we  succeed,  there  will  be  glory  enough  for  us  all." 

Some  of  Lincoln's  friends  had  expressed  their  fears 
that  Mr.  Seward  would  attempt  to  dictate  to  the  President, 
and  would  himself  try  to  assume  the  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment.    Before  a  month  had  passed,  these  fears  were 


Lincoln  s  First  Call  to  Arms  231 

confirmed.  In  a  letter  entitled,  "  Some  Thoughts  for  the 
President's  Consideration,"  Mr.  Seward  laid  out  a  plan  for 
the  conduct  of  certain  affairs,  and  expressed  it  in  the 
manner  of  a  superior  person  dictating  to  a  subordinate. 
Very  calmly  and  judiciously,  and  in  words  that  could 
not  be  misconstrued,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  him  to  understand 
that  the  reins  of  government  were  in  the  President's  own 
hands,  and  that  he  proposed  to  keep  them  there.  And 
Mr.  Seward,  very  wisely  and  graciously,  submitted  to  be 
second  to  the  man  whom  he  now  recognized  as  both 
stronger  and  wiser  than  himself. 


VIII.     LINCOLN'S   FIRST   CALL   TO   ARMS 

After  the  inauguration  there  seemed  to  be  a  brief  calm 
before  the  bursting  of  the  storm.  The  South  became 
impatient  because  Jefferson  Davis,  the  president  of  the 
Confederacy,  did  not  take  some  decisive  action. 

"  Why  don't  you  go  ahead  }  "  asked  the  excited  leaders. 

The  North  was  dissatisfied  because  President  Lincoln 
did  not  immediately  take  steps  to  settle  the  difficulty  and 
either  let  the  states  go  in  peace  or  declare  war  upon  them. 

"Why  don't  you  go  ahead  .?  "  asked  friend  and  foe. 

The  opportunity  and  necessity  of  "going  ahead"  came 
soon  enough. 

Of  the  important  forts  along  the  coasts  of  the  seceded 
states  nearly  all  had  been  taken  by  the  Confederacy. 
Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor  still  floated  the  Ameri- 
can flag.  There  Major  Robert  Andersen,  with  a  handful 
of  soldiers,  stood  at  his  post  and  refused  all  demands  to 


232  Abraham  Li?icoln 

surrender.  The  city  was  full  of  Confederate  soldiers. 
Batteries  were  built  along  the  shore.  Cannon  were  placed 
in  position  and  pointed  toward  the  fort.  Still  Major 
Anderson  refused  to  surrender. 

On  the  1 2th  of  April,  General  Beauregard,  the  Confed- 
erate commander,  asked  him  to  state  whether  he  would 
give  up  the  fort  immediately.  His  supplies  were 
exhausted.  The  soldiers  were  eating  their  last 
rations  of  food.  He  answered  that  unless  he  received 
other  orders  from  the  government  he  would  go  out  on  the 
15th,  but  not  earlier. 

''Very  well,  then,"  answered  Beauregard,  "within  one 
hour  the  Confederate  batteries  will  open  fire  upon  you." 

The  message  was  sent  at  half-past  three  in  the  morning. 
At  half-past  four  the  first  gun  was  fired  upon  Fort  Sumter. 
It  was  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  United  States. 
Those  who  caused  it  to  be  fired  felt  that  this  was  so. 
They  wished  it  to  be  so. 

The  bombardment  was  kept  up  during  the  day  and  a 
part  of  the  night.  The  outer  walls  of  the  fort  were  bat- 
tered down.  Major  Anderson  returned  the  fire  as  he  was 
able ;  but  his  guns  were  small  compared  with  those  of  the 
enemy.  The  people  of  Charleston  were  wild  with  enthu- 
siasm. Throughout  the  South  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumter  was  hailed  with  joy  as  the  beginning  of  the  end. 
It  was  believed  that  the  United  States  would  submit  with- 
out any  determined  resistance,  and  that  the  Confederate 
states  would  then  be  firmly  established. 

On  the  following  day,  April  the  13th,  the  feeble,  half- 
starved  garrison  surrendered.      The  strongest  fortress  on 


Lincohi  s  First  Call  to  An/is  233 

the  South  Atlantic  coast  passed  mto  the  hands  of  the 
Confederates. 

When  the  news  was  telegraphed  through  the  North,  the 
effect  was  wonderful.  The  people  awoke  suddenly  to  a 
realization  of  what  was  going  on.  The  Union  broken 
up,  a  new  government  making  war  upon  the  United 
States,  the  flag  insulted  and  fired  upon,  triumphant  foes 
rejoicing  —  these  things  aroused  the  dormant  patriotism 
of  the  nation.  Men  who  had  hitherto  been  willing  to 
let  matters  drift  as  they  would,  understood  now  the  great 
peril  into  which  the  country  had  drifted.  Their  fighting 
spirit  was  aroused :  there  was  to  be  no  more  knuckling 
down  to  the  South. 

President  Lincoln  at  once  called  for  seventy-five  thou- 
sand volunteers  to  defend  the  government  and  maintain 
its  laws  in  the  South.  In  all  the  free  states  the  call  was 
answered  with  enthusiasm.  Not  only  seventy-five  thousand 
men  offered  themselves,  but  thousands  more  who  could 
not  be  accepted.     Michigan  alone  offered  fifty  thousand. 

"  Ten  days  ago,"  said  the  governor  of  Iowa,  "  there  were 
two  parties  in  this  state.  To-day  there  is  but  one,  and  that 
one  is  for  the  Constitution  and  Union  unconditionally." 

Within  twenty-four  hours,  Illinois  had  forty  companies 
ready;  within  forty-eight  hours,  Massachusetts  had  a  fully 
equipped  regiment  ready  to  march.  Factories  were  set  to 
work  making  arms  and  ammunition.  In  every  village  of 
the  North  the  tap  of  the  drum  was  heard.  The  day  of 
hesitation  had  passed  ;  the  war  had  begun. 

The  call  was  for  volunteers  who  would  serve  ninety 
days.      Most  people  believed  that  the  war  could  not  last 


234  Abraham  Lincoln 

longer  than  that.  In  the  North  it  was  thought  that  the 
South  would  submit  without  much  resistance.  "  To  whip 
those  slaveholders  will  only  be  a  little  exercise  before 
breakfast,"  boasted  the  over-confident. 

But  the  South  had  been  preparing  for  war  long  before 
this.  Every  state  was  armed.  General  Beauregard  was 
at  the  head  of  a  strong  force,  well-equipped  and  drilled. 
And  every  Southerner  believed  that  every  Yankee  —  as 
all  Northerners  were  called  —  was  an  arrant  coward. 
"  One  Southern  soldier  is  a  fair  match  for  ten  Yankees," 
boasted  the  over-confident. 

Other  Southern  states,  which  had  hitherto  been  waver- 
ing, now  joined  the  ranks  of  secession  —  Virginia,  North 
CaroHna,  Tennessee,  Arkansas.  The  remaining  slave 
states,  all  except  Delaware,  not  only  refused  to  send  the 
troops  which  the  President  called  for,  but  were  ready  at 
the  first  favorable  moment  to  withdraw  from  the  Union. 

The  city  of  Washington  was  in  the  midst  of  slave  terri- 
tory. The  first  object  of  the  South  would  be  its  capture. 
If  that  object  could  be  attained,  the  success  of  the  Con- 
federacy would  be  assured.  No  one  understood  this  bet- 
ter than  President  Lincoln,  and  his  first  care  was  to 
assemble  a  large  force  for  the  protection  of  the  capital. 

General  Winfield  Scott,  then  in  his  seventy-sixth  year, 
was  the  highest  officer  in  the  regular  army.  "  I  have 
served  my  country  under  the  flag  of  the  Union  for  more 
than  fifty  years,"  he  said,  "and  as  long  as  God  permits 
me  to  live,  I  will  defend  that  flag  with  my  sword,  even  if 
my  own  native  state  assails  it." 

But  age  and  infirmities  would  not  permit  him  to  take 


Lincoln's  First  Call  to  Anns 


235 


the  field.  The  President  and  his  cabinet  decided  that 
some  younger  man  must  be  chosen  to  lead  the  army  of  the 
Union.  Among  all  the  soldiers  in  the  country  they  could 
think  of  none  who  was  braver,  wiser,  more  trustworthy, 
than  Robert  E.  Lee  of 
Virginia. 

Lee  was  at  that  time 
a  colonel  in  the  United 
States  army ;  he  was 
fifty-four  years  old ;  his 
whole  life  had  been  spent 
in  the  service  of  his 
country.  He  was  de- 
scended from  one  of  the 
oldest  and  proudest  fam- 
ilies in  Virginia ;  his 
father  had  been  the  most 
trusted  of  the  officers  in 
the  army  of  General 
Washington.     Robert  E. 

Lee  loved  the  United  States ;  but,  like  many  another 
Southern  man,  he  loved  his  own  state  better.  He  was 
a  Virginian,  and  he  believed  that  his  first  duty  was  to  be 
loyal  to  Virginia.  "  I  cannot  imagine  a  greater  calamity," 
he  said,  "  than  the  dissolution  of  the  Union." 

When  the  command  of  the  Union  army  was  offered  to 
him,  Colonel  Lee  hesitated.  Virginia  had  not  yet  seceded. 
But  if  she  did  secede,  could  he  fight  against  her }  Could 
he  fight  against  his  kinsmen  and  friends,  all  of  whom  were 
Virginians  ?     Most  certainly  he  could  not. 


Robert  E.  Lee 


236  Abraham  Lmcobi 

Within  a  week  the  news  came  that  Virginia  had  joined 
the  Confederacy.  Colonel  Lee  at  once  resigned  his  com- 
mission in  the  United  States  army.  Three  days  later  he 
was  asked  to  take  command  of  the  Virginian  troops. 
'"  Trusting  in  Almighty  God  and  an  approving  conscience," 
he  said,  "  I  devote  myself  to  the  service  of  my  native 
state." 

In  the  meanwhile,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  doing  all 
that  he  could  to  awaken  the  North  to  a  sense  of  the  great 
peril  which  threatened  the  country.  He  hurried  back  to 
Illinois,  making  many  speeches  on  the  way. 

"Forget  party;  remember  only  your  country,"  he 
said.  "It  is  our  duty  to  protect  the  government  and  the 
flag  from  every  assailant,  be  be  who  he  may."  Never 
was  a  speaker  more  in  earnest. 

At  Springfield  he  made  his  last  great  appeal.  "  The 
South  has  no  cause  of  complaint,"  he  said.  "  The  elec- 
tion of  Lincoln  is  a  mere  pretext.  There  can  be  no  neu- 
trals in  this  war  —  only  patriots  and  traitors." 

He  allowed  himself  no  rest.  He  denied  himself  sleep. 
He  gave  all  his  thoughts,  all  his  strength,  to  the  grand 
effort  of  arousing  his  countrymen  t9  the  defense  of  the 
Union.  He  overtaxed  his  strength.  His  health  failed. 
In  Chicago  he  was  taken  ill,  and  on  the  3d  of  June  he 
died.  He  was  but  forty-eight  years  of  age.  His  death 
seemed  to  be  a  national  calamity,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
mourned  for  him  with  sorrow  as  deep  and  sincere  as  for  a 
brother.  His  name  is  to  be  remembered  as  that  of  one  who, 
although  he  had  made  mistakes,  was  amoiig  the  most 
earnest  and  most  able  of  American  patriots. 


/;/   Sight  of  tJic  Capitol  237 

IX.     IN  SIGHT  OF   THE    CAPITOL 

Time  and  space  would  fail  us  to  relate  the  history  of 
the  long  and  terrible  war  that  began  with  the  firing  of  the 
Confederate  guns  on  Fort  Sumter.  It  is  for  us  rather  to 
keep  our  eyes  on  the  sad-faced  man  at  the  helm,  who 
steered  the  ship  of  state  through  the  dreadful  storm  of 
those  memorable  years. 

President  Lincoln  had  called  an  extra  session  of  Con- 
gress to  meet  on  the  4th  of  July.  When  that  day  dawned, 
the  city  of  Washington  was  like  an  armed  camp. 
The  streets  were  filled  with  soldiers.  On  every 
hand  were  the  signs  of  war.  From  the  dome  of  the 
capitol,  the  Confederate  flag  could  be  seen  on  the  distant 
hills  beyond  the  Potomac,  waving  over  the  encampment  of 
the  enemy.  From  every  part  of  the  Confederacy  armed 
forces  were  hurrying  northward.  "  On  to  Washington  !  " 
was  the  cry  of  the  South.  The  nation's  capital  was  almost 
in  a  state  of  siege. 

When  Congress  came  together,  only  the  Northern  states 
and  the  border  slave  states  were  represented.  The  seats 
of  the  members  from  the  extreme  South  were  vacant. 

The  President's  message  was  read  and  listened  to  with 
the  deepest  attention.  In  it  he  informed  Congress  of  the 
condition  of  the  country.  He  told  how  in  the  Southern 
states  the  laws  of  the  country  had  been  set  at  naught ;  how 
the  arsenals  and  other  public  property  had  been  seized ; 
how  Fort  Sumter  had  been  bombarded  ;  how  a  large  num- 
ber of  United  States  officers  in  the  army  and  the  navy  had 
taken  up  arms  against  their  country ;  how  a  call  for  volun- 


23S  Abraham  Lincoln 

teers  had  been  made  and  cheerfully  responded  to  by  every 
Northern  state ;  and  how  armed  forces  were  gathering  in 
Virginia  and  threatening  the  seat  of  government.  Finally, 
he  asked  Congress  to  give  him  the  means  by  which  to 
end  the  conflict  quickly  and  decisively.  To  do  this  he 
must  have  four  hundred  thousand  men  and  four  hundred 
millions  of  dollars. 

Congress  acted  promptly.  It  voted  to  give  to  the  Presi- 
dent not  only  all  that  he  asked,  but  more.  He  might  have 
at  his  disposal  five  hundred  thousand  men  and  five  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars. 

And  so  another  call  went  forth  for  volunteers.  This 
time  half  a  million  men  were  to  be  put  in  the  field  and 
they  were  to  serve  for  three  years  unless  the  war  should 
close  within  a  shorter  time.  Men  no  longer  talked  about 
"whipping  the  rebels  as  a  pastime  before  breakfast." 
They  knew  now  that  the  full  strength  of  the  nation  must 
be  put  forth ;  and  every  patriotic  citizen  resolved  that,  if 
need  be,  he  would  give  himself  and  all  that  he  had  for  the 
preservation  of  the  great  republic.  From  every  Northern 
state  "  uprose  the  mighty  voice  of  the  people  to  cheer  the 
heart  of  the  President.  Onward  it  came,  like  the  rush  of 
many  waters,"  singing 

"We  are  coming.  Father  Abraham, 
Five  hundred  thousand  strong." 


'&• 


A  force  of  men  under  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler 
took  possession  of  Old  Point  Comfort,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  James  River.  General  McClellan  led  an  army  into 
West  Virginia  to  prevent  any  advance  of  the  Confeder- 


In  SigJit  of  tJie  Capitol  239 

ates  in  that  direction.  Other  forces  were  ready  to  protect 
the  Northwest  from  invasion  by  way  of  Kentucky  or  the 
Mississippi.  The  troops  in  Missouri  were  placed  under 
the  command  of  General  Fremont,  the  Western  adven- 
turer, who,  in  the  Mexican  War,  had  conquered  California 
for  the  United  States.  The  harbors  of  the  South  were 
blockaded,  and  Port  Royal  in  South  Carolina  soon  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Union  forces. 

But  all  this  while  the  Confederacy  was  arming  and  drill- 
ing great  armies  for  the  defense  of  the  South  and  the  in- 
vasion of  the  North  ;  and  the  cry  of  "  On  to  Washington  " 
swelled  into  a  chorus  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  voices. 

And  then,  on  the  21st  of  July,  the  first  great  battle 
was  fought.  It  was  fought  on  Virginia  soil,  almost 
within  sight  of  Washington,  and  is  generally  known  as 
the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  Union  army  was 
commanded  by  General  McDowell ;  the  Confederate,  by 
General  Beauregard.  The  soldiers  on  both  sides  were 
raw,  untrained  volunteers ;  but  in  the  Southern  army  were 
many  officers  of  note  who  had  been  educated  in  the  mili- 
tary academy  at  West  Point  and  had  spent  long  years  in 
military  service.  The  battle  was  fierce  and  bloody,  and  the 
Confederates  won  the  day.  The  Union  Hues  were  broken. 
A  panic  spread  among  the  soldiers.  They  turned  in  wild 
disorder,  and  fled  in  bUnd  dismay  back  toward  Washington. 
In  terrible  rout  and  confusion,  they  crowded  the  long 
bridge  across  the  Potomac,  and  scarcely  paused  in  their 
flight  until  they  were  safe  in  the  shadow  of  the  capitol. 

Safe }  Had  the  Confederates  known  the  extent  of  their 
victory,  and  had  they  followed  their  fleeing  enemies,  Wash- 


240  AbraJiavi  Lincohi 

ington  would  have  fallen  into  their  hands  that  day,  and 
our  country  would  have  had  a  different  history.  But  for 
some  unexplained  reason,  they  halted,  hesitated,  and  then 
made  no  advance.  The  delay  gave  the  panic-stricken 
Union  soldiers  time  to  recover  from  their  fright.  The 
defenses  along  the  Potomac  were  strengthened.  The 
capital  city  was  saved. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run  carried  sorrow  and 
dismay  to  many  a  Northern  home.  To  the  South  it  gave 
renewed  courage  and  determination.  To  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, trusting  in  Providence  to  give  victory  to  the  right,  it 
brought  grief,  but  not  discouragement.  He  must  persevere. 
He  must  perfect  the  organization  of  the  army.  He  must 
find  able  commanders  and  skillful  generals  for  the  differ- 
ent departments  and  divisions.  He  must  see  that  the 
soldiers  were  properly  drilled  and  equipped.  And  he, 
above  all  others,  must  have  patience,  patience,  patience. 
"  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time,"  he  said. 

X.  NEVER  TOO  BUSY  TO  HELP  OTHERS 

The  storm  of  war  thickened.  The  life  of  the  nation 
was  threatened  on  every  hand.  There  were  perils  from 
enemies  without,  from  foes  within,  from  selfish  partisans, 
from  unwise  friends,  from  ill-guided  counselors,  from 
traitors  at  home  and  abroad.  A  single  mistake,  a  single 
unwise  movement,  might  involve  the  country  in  hopeless 
ruin. 

To  President  Lincoln  alone  belonged  the  task  of  direct- 
ing, perfecting,  harmonizing,  all  the  forces  of  the  govern- 


Never  too  Busy  to  help  Others  241 

ment.  He  must  sec  to  it  that  the  lawmakers  performed 
their  duties  wisely  and  well  ;  he  must  direct  the  move- 
ments of  the  various  branches  of  the  army ;  he  must  pre- 
serve harmony  in  his  cabinet ;  he  must  keep  in  touch  with 
the  politicians  of  both  parties  in  the  North ;  he  must 
know  the  will  and  consult  the  welfare  of  the  people  whose 
servant  he  was ;  he  must  encourage  the  weak  and  the 
timid ;  he  must  restrain  the  rash  and  the  over-bold ;  he 
must  have  an  eye  single  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution.  Did  ever  a  man  have  heavier  bur- 
dens to  bear  ? 

But  President  Lincoln  was  still  the  same  plain  man  of 
the  people  that  he  had  always  been.  He  dressed  plainly 
and  lived  plainly.  He  walked  where  others  would  have 
ridden.  He  found  time  to  look  after  a  multitude  of 
details  which  another  person  would  have  passed  over  to 
a  clerk.  He  went  out  to  examine  fortifications,  to  test 
new  guns,  to  learn  the  condition  of  the  soldiers  in  camp. 

He  liked  to  listen  to  entertaining  stories  ;  he  Hked  to 
repeat  them  to  his  friends.  On  his  writing  desk,  among 
state  papers  and  documents  of  the  gravest  importance,  he 
kept  an  assortment  of  joke  books  and  comic  almanacs.  At 
one  moment  he  would  be  absorbed  in  questions  of  deepest 
statecraft ;  at  the  next  he  would  be  humming  the  verses  of 
a  favorite  hymn, 

"  Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud," 

or  repeating  some  quotation   that  had  fixed  itself  in  his 

mind. 

"  Mortal  man  with  face  of  clay, 
Here  to-morrow,  gone  to-day," 

LINCOLN  — 16 


242  Abrahavi  Lincoln 

he  would  chant,  as  he  walked  back  and  forth  in  his 
study,  pondering  upon  the  vexatious  problems  which  no 
one  could  solve  but  himself.  He  was  never  too  busy  to 
greet  an  old  friend,  or  to  listen  to  the  appeals  of  those 
who  were  in  trouble. 

There  were  many  desertions  from  the  army,  and  military 
law  required  that  all  deserters  should  be  shot.  But  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  big  heart  had  pity  for  the  young  fellows, 
and  he  pardoned  so  many  that  the  army  officers  were 
alarmed. 

"  If  a  man  had  more  than  one  life,"  he  said  on  one 
occasion,  "  I  think  a  little  shooting  would  not  hurt  this 
one ;  but  after  he  is  once  dead  we  cannot  bring  him 
back,  no  matter  how  sorry  we  may  be.  So  the  boy  must 
be  pardoned." 

General  Butler  protested.  "  The  whole  army  is  be- 
coming demoralized.     There  are  desertions  every  day." 

"  How  can  it  be  stopped  .''  "  asked  the  President. 

"  By  shooting  every  deserter,"  answered  Butler. 

"  You  may  be  right,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  "  probably  are. 
But,  Lord  help  me,  how  can  I  have  a  butcher's  day  every 
Friday  in  the  army  of  the  Potomac .''  " 

Once,  at  the  very  turning  point  of  a  battle,  a  soldier  was 
so  overcome  with  fear  that  he  dropped  his  gun  and  ran 
from  the  field.  His  action  came  near  throwing  his  whole 
company  into  confusion.  After  the  battle  he  was  tried 
by  court-martial  and  sentenced  to  die.  His  friends 
appealed    to  the    President. 

"  I    will    put    the    order   for   execution    by,"    he    said, 


Never  too  Busy  to  help  Others  243 

"until  I  can  settle  in  my  mind  whether  this  soldier  can 
better  serve  the  country  dead  than  living." 

Another  case  vi^as  that  of  a  cowardly  fellow  for  whom 
no  one  could  say  a  good  word.  Not  only  had  he  run 
away  during  the  heat  of  battle,  but  it  was  shown  that  he 
was  a  thief  in  his  regiment  and  altogether  untrustworthy. 

"Certainly  this  fellow  can  serve  his  country  better 
dead  than  living,"  said  the  officer  before  whom  he  was 
tried. 

But  Mr.  Lincoln  had  known  the  boy's  father,  a  worthy 
man  and  patriot.  He  took  the  death  warrant  and  said 
that  he  thought  he  would  put  it  in  the  pigeonhole  with 
the  rest  of  his  "leg  cases."  "There  are  cases,"  he  said 
in  explanation,  "  that  you  call  by  that  long  title,  '  Cow- 
ardice in  the  face  of  the  enemy,'  but  I  call  them,  for 
short,  my  leg  cases.  If  Almighty  God  has  given  a  man 
a  cowardly  pair  of  legs,  how  can  he  help  running  away 
with  them  > " 

The  President  never  refused  to  listen  to  those  who 
appealed  to  him  for  help ;  he  was  never  so  taken  up  with 
the  mighty  affairs  of  the  nation  as  to  forget  the  humble 
needs  of  the  common  people ;  he  was  never  so  over- 
whelmed with  his  own  burdens  and  griefs  that  he  could 
not  speak  words  of  sympathy  and  cheer  to  others  who 
were  sorrowful  and  broken-hearted.  There  are  manv 
examples  that  show  how  truly  noble  was  his  soul.  The 
following  letter,  written  to  a  stricken  mother  whom  he  did 
not  know,  is  one:  — 

"  Dear  Madam  :  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the 
War  Department  a  statement  that  you  are  the  mother  of 


244  Abraham  Lincoln 

five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle. 
I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine 
which  should  attempt  to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a 
loss  so  overwhelming.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tender- 
ing to  you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks 
of  the  repubhc  they  died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our 
heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your  bereave- 
ment, and  leave  you  only  the  cherished  memory  of  the 
loved  and  lost,  and  the  solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours 
to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  free- 
dom." 

As  the  months  of  war  went  on,  troubles  and  perplexi- 
ties multiplied  around  him.  He  tried  to  bear  up  under 
them.  He  cultivated  cheerfulness  and  repeated  the 
old-time  jokes  that  had  so  often  relieved  a  weary  hour ; 
but  they  seemed  to  have  lost  their  flavor.  He  laughed 
now  but  seldom,  and  never  so  heartily  as  before.  Streaks 
of  gray  began  to  appear  in  his  hair.  The  wrinkles  on  his 
face  and  forehead  deepened  and  multiplied.  His  eyes, 
with  their  far-away  look,  became  sadder  and  sadder  with 
each  passing  year.  "  I  feel  as  though  I  shall  never  be 
glad  any  more,"  he  said.  And  yet,  without  a  murmur, 
without  one  thought  of  himself,  he  stood  bravely  at  his 
post,  bearing  the  nation's  burdens  on  his  shoulders,  and 
always  hoping  and  working  and  believing  that  the  right 
would  prevail. 

"I  am  confident,"  he  said,  "that  the  Almighty  has  His 
plans,  and  will  work  them  out;  and  whether  we  see  it  or 
not,  they  will  be  the  wisest  and  best  for  us." 


*^  Cout7-abaiid  of  Wirr"  245 

XI.     "CONTRABAND   OF    WAR" 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  utmost  care  was  taken 
not  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  way.  Slaves  that 
escaped  and  came  into  the  Union  lines  were  promptly 
sent  back  to  their  masters.  Some  of  the  Union  generals 
went  so  far  as  to  make  an  agreement  with  Confederate 
generals  that  they  would  put  down  any  attempts  which 
the  negroes  might  make  at  a  rebellion.  Slaves  were  still 
property.  They  were  of  great  service  to  the  Southern 
army ;  they  were  the  diggers  of  trenches,  the  makers  ot 
earthworks,  the  haulers  of  supplies,  the  hardy  workmen 
who  relieved  the  Confederate  soldiers  of  much  of  the 
drudgery  of  camp  life. 

General  Butler,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  was  the  first  Union 
officer  to  refuse  to  send  escaping  slaves  back  to  their  mas- 
ters. He  believed  that,  since  they  were  used,  Hke  horses 
and  mules,  to  aid  the  enemy,  they  should  be  confiscated 
just  as  any  other  war  materials  that  might  fall  into  his 
hands.  "They  are  contraband  of  war,"  he  said;  and  all 
the  slaves  that  came  to  him  from  the  enemy's  camp  were 
given  their  freedom.  This  plan  seemed  to  be  so  sensible 
and  just  that  Congress  soon  afterward  passed  a  law  pro- 
viding that  escaped  negroes  who  had  been  employed  in 
the  Confederate  army  should  be  confiscated  by  the  gov- 
ernment. From  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  every 
black  man  from  the  South  was  called  a  "contraband." 

But  there  were  not  many  who  tried  to  escape  from  slav- 
ery. They  had  been  taught  by  their  masters  that  the  Abo- 
litionists of  the  North  were  savage  monsters  who  ate  all 


246  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  black  men  they  could  catch.  Any  fate  would  be  better 
than  to  fall  into  their  hands.  Working  in  the  trenches  was 
hard,  but  being  eaten  by  "  black  Abolitionists  "  would  be  a 
thousand  times  worse. 

About  this  time  General  Fremont  in  Missouri  was  behav- 
ing so  unwisely  that  all  the  slaveholding  states  which  had 
remained  loyal  to  the  Union  were  almost  on  the  point  of 
joinmg  the  Confederacy.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  issue 
a  proclamation  declaring  that  the  lands  of  all  dis-Union 
men  in  Missouri  should  be  confiscated  and  their  slaves  set 
free.  This  was  going  a  great  deal  farther  than  the  Presi- 
dent had  wished  to  go.  It  raised  a  storm  of  protests,  even 
in  the  North.  A  whole  company  of  Kentucky  volunteers 
threw  down  their  arms  and  went  home.  The  Kentucky 
legislature  refused  to  give  any  further  aid  to  the  govern- 
ment until  the  proclamation  was  modified  or  withdrawn. 
What  could  the  President  do  but  remove  Fremont  from  his 
command  and  declare  that  his  acts  were  without  authority  ? 

"  I  think  to  lose  Kentucky  is  nearly  the  same  as  to  lose 
the  whole  game,"  said  he.  "  Kentucky  gone,  we  cannot 
hold  Missouri,  nor,  as  I  think,  Maryland.  These  all  against 
us,  and  the  job  on  our  hands  is  too  large  for  us.  We  would 
as  well  consent  to  separation  at  once,  including  the  sur- 
render of  the  capital." 

The  extreme  Abolitionists  and  many  other  short-sighted 
people  in  the  North  raised  a  great  cry  about  this.  They 
accused  the  President  of  trying  to  befriend  the  slaveholders, 
and  were  more  bitter  than  ever  toward  the  "  slave  hound 
of  Illinois."  But  Mr  Lincoln  stood  his  ground  firmly,  and 
the  border  slave  states  remained  loyal  to  the  Union. 


"  Ojic    War  at  a    Time"  247 

XII.     <-ONE   WAR   AT   A   TIME" 

Soon  after  this  an  incident  happened  which,  but  for  the 
President's  wise  course,  would  have  involved  our  country 
in  a  war  with  Great  Britain.  The  Confederate  govern- 
ment had  appointed  two  Southern  statesmen,  Mason  and 
Slidell,  as  envoys  to  visit  Europe  and,  if  possible,  secure 
aid  from  England  or  France.  These  men  embarked  upon 
a  small  vessel  in  Charleston  harbor,  and  on  a  dark  night 
passed  through  the  blockading  fleet  outside  and  sailed  to 
Havana.  There  they  took  passage  for  England  on  the 
British  mail  steamship    Trent. 

All  this  was  made  known  to  Captain  Wilkes  of  the 
United  States  sloop  'San  Jacinto.  On  the  following  day 
he  waylaid  the  Trent  in  the  Bahama  Channel,  fired  a  shot 
across  her  bows,  and  brought  her  to.  He  then  sent  a  com- 
pany of  marines  on  board  who  seized  Mason  and  Slidell 
and  fetched  them  off  to  the  San  Jacinto.  The  English 
captain  and  crew  protested  that  this  was  an  offense  against 
the  British  flag  under  which  they  were  sailing;  but  Captain 
Wilkes  paid  no  heed  to  their  words.  He  permitted  the 
Trent  to  go  on  her  way;  but  he  carried  Mason  and  Slidell 
to  Boston  harbor,  and  they  were  shut  up  in  Fort  Warren 
as  prisoners  of  war. 

In  the  North  there  was  great  enthusiasm.  Short-sighted 
men  applauded  the  act  of  Captain  Wilkes;  and  even  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  gave  it  his  official  approval.  In 
the  South  there  was  also  enthusiasm.  The  shrewd  leaders 
of  the  Confederacy  felt  sure  that  Great  Britain  would  de- 
mand satisfaction  for  the  insult  that  had  been  offered  her 


248  Abraham  Lincoln 

by  waylaying  one  of  her  vessels  on  the  high  seas.  If  they 
could  thus  secure  Great  Britain  as  their  ally,  victory  would 
be  assured.  In  England  the  sympathies  of  the  ruling  class 
were  with  the  South.  They  wanted  to  see  the  great  re- 
public broken  up  and  destroyed.  Many  of  them  would 
have  been  glad  of  any  excuse  for  declaring  war  upon  the 
United  States. 

President  Lincoln  was  not  carried  away  by  the  fool- 
ish clamor  and  boasting  in  the  North.  Captain  Wilkes's 
act,  far  from  being  heroic,  was  both  unwise  and  wrong, 
and  the  President  did  not  hesitate  to  say  so.  '"  We  fought 
Great  Britain,"  he  said,  "  for  insisting  on  the  right  to 
do  precisely  what  Captain  Wilkes  has  done.  If  Great 
Britain  shall  now  protest  against  the  act,  and  demand  the 
release  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  we  must  give  them  up,  apolo- 
gize for  the  act  as  a  violation  of  our  doctrines,  and  thus 
forever  bind  her  over  to  keep  the  peace  in  relation  to 
neutrals,  and  so  acknowledge  that  she  has  been  wrong  for 
sixty  years." 

And  the  British  government  did  protest.  More  than 
this,  they  demanded  that  reparation  and  proper  apologies 
should  be  made  within  seven  days ;  and  they  began  to  get 
ready  for  immediate  war.  Very  wisely  and  without  any 
loss  of  dignity  on  the  part  of  our  government,  the  Presi- 
dent yielded.  He  was  supported  in  that  course  by  Secre- 
tary Seward,  and  by  a  few  of  the  wisest  among  the  leaders 
of  the  North.  But  from  the  masses  of  the  people  there 
was  a  great  cry  of  disappointment,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
his  cabinet  were  soundly  berated  as  cowards  unfit  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  affairs  of  the   nation.     The    President 


Listening  to  Advice  249 

was  unmoved  by  their  clamor.  "  One  war  at  a  time,"  he 
said ;  and  he  calmly  returned  to  the  manifold  duties  of  the 
hour.  Once  more  he  had  saved  the  nation  from  disaster. 
As  soon  as  the  people  had  taken  time  for  sober  second 
thought,  they  understood  how  wisely,  and  with  what  true 
statesmanship,  he  had  acted ;  and  they  shuddered  as  they 
thought  of  what  might  have  happened  had  he  yielded  to 
their  wishes  and  not  stood  bravely  and  firmly  by  the  right. 

XIII.     LISTENING   TO   ADVICE 

The  weary  months  came  and  passed,  and  still  the  war 
went  on.  Sometimes  the  Union  gained  an  advantage ; 
sometimes  the  Confederacy  won  a  victory.  There  was  no 
telling  when  or  how  the  dreadful  conflict  would  end. 
There  were  calls  for  more  soldiers  and  more  soldiers  and 
more  soldiers.  In  the  North,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men  left  plows,  looms,  forges,  counting-houses,  stores, 
factories,  schools,  and  cheerfully  gave  up  everything  for 
the  sake  of  a  united  country.  As  they  marched  to  the 
front  they  sang:  — 

"We  are  springing  to  the  call  of  our  brothers  gone  before, 
Shouting  the  battle  cry  of  freedom. 
And  we'll  fill  the  vacant  ranks  with  a  million  freemen  more, 
Shouting  the  battle  cry  of  freedom. 

"The  Union  forever,  hurrah,  boys,  hurrah, 

Down  with  the  traitor  and  up  with  the  stars. 
While  we  rally  round  the  flag,  boys,  rally  once  again. 
Shouting  the  battle  crv  of  freedom." 


'» 


In  the  South  there  was  a  still  more  general  outpouring. 
First  all  the  able-bodied  men,  and  finally  the  boys  above 


250  A  bra /mm  LuicoUi 

sixteePx,  and  the  grandfathers,  went  out  to  defend  their 
homes  and  the  states  of  their  section  against  what  they 
beHeved  were  the  aggressions  of  the  North.  On  the  great 
plantations,  once  so  prosperous,  few  were  left  save  the 
women  and  children  and  slaves.  And  the  Southern  sol- 
diers had  also  their  rallying  song  :  — 

"  Southrons,  hear  your  country  call  you  ! 
Up,  lest  worse  than  death  befall  you  ! 

To  arms  !  to  arms  !  to  arms,  in  Dixie  ! 
Lo  !  all  the  beacon  fires  are  lighted  — 
Let  all  hearts  be  now  united  ! 

To  arms  !  to  arms  !  to  arms,  in  Dixie  ! 

*'  Advance  the  flag  of  Dixie  ! 
Hurrah  !  hurrah  ! 

For  Dixie's  land  we  take  our  stand, 
And  live  or  die  for  Dixie. 
To  arms  !  to  arms  ! 
And  conquer  peace  for  Dixie  ! 
To  arms  !  to  arms  ! 
And  conquer  peace  for  Dixie  ! " 

To  President  Lincoln,  every  passing  day  brought  new 
perplexities,  every  hour  added  something  to  the  tremen- 
dous burden  which  he  alone  must  carry.  Generals  upon 
whom  he  had  depended  for  victory  proved  incompetent ; 
they  had  to  be  removed,  and  abler  commanders  selected  to 
take  their  places.  Changes  were  made  in  the  cabinet. 
Men  from  whom  he  should  have  received  sympathy  and 
aid  proved  to  be  stumbling  blocks  in   his  way. 

The  people  became  impatient  and  discontented.  They 
could  not  understand  why  the  war  should  continue  so  long, 
and  yet  so  little  be  accomplished.  Money  was  scarce, 
taxes    were    burdensome,    food    and    clothing   were   very 


Listening  to  Advice  251 

costly,  factories  were  closed,  the  distress  that  always 
accompanies  war  was  becoming  more  general  every  day, 
And  there  were  those  who  blamed  Abraham  Lincoln  for 
everything ;  there  were  thousands  of  men  in  the  North 
who  thought  that  they  themselves  were  better  able  to  man- 
age the  affairs  of  the  nation  than  was  the  President.  And 
then  there  sprang  up  a  peace  party,  composed  of  men  who 
wanted  to  end  the  war  at  any  price — sympathizers  with 
the  South,  disappointed  politicians,  cowards,  Northern 
"  doughfaces,"  and  a  few  well-meaning,  but  short-sighted 
patriots. 

But  the  President  went  steadily  forward  in  the  course 
which  he  believed  to  be  safest  and  wisest.  He  listened  to 
the  advice  of  others,  even  when  offered  in  an  unfriendly 
spirit ;  he  bore  patiently  with  the  complaints  which  came 
to  his  ears;  he  was  lenient  and  forbearing  even  with 
those  who  abused  him  openly.  The  consciousness  that  he 
was  right  gave  him  strength. 

There  were  men  in  the  North  who  insisted  that  the  war 
was  being  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  slavery  ; 
they  called  the  Union  soldiers  "abolition  hirelings,"  and 
"  Lincoln's  dogs  "  ;  they  did  all  that  they  could  to  assist  the 
South.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  Abolitionists  who 
insisted  that  the  war  was  being  delayed  for  the  purpose  of 
befriendmg  the  slaveholders ;  they  called  the  President 
"a  supporter  of  slavery"  ;  they  declared  that  the  war  was 
a  failure,  and  that  the  Confederate  states  should  be  given 
their  independence. 

Very  gradually,  however,  a  change  was  taking  place  in 
the  minds  of  patriotic  men  who  had  hitherto  insisted  that 


252  AbraJiam  Lijicoln 

slavery  should  not  be  molested.  No  one  observed  this 
change  more  quickly,  or  with  greater  satisfaction,  than  the 
President.  As  fast  as  he  thought  the  country  was  ready 
for  it,  he  moved  toward  what  he  had  all  along  believed 
must  come  —  emancipation.  First,  the  "  contrabands  " 
were  taken  care  of ;  then  a  law  was  passed  to  permit 
these  contrabands  to  enUst  in  the  Union  army ;  then  a  few 
black  regiments  were  formed  to  be  commanded  by  white 
officers ;  then  Congress  adopted  a  resolution  in  favor  of 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  slaves,  their  owners  to  be 
paid  for  them  out  of  the  United  States  treasury. 

But  there  were  some  who  thought  that  the  President 
was  not  moving  fast  enough ;  they  insisted  that  he  must 
put  an  end  to  slavery  at  once,  no  matter  what  the  conse- 
quences might  be.  To  these  the  President  made  answer 
in  a  letter  which  he  sent  to  Horace  Greeley.  It  was 
printed  in  the  Neiv    York   Tribune:  — 

"  My  paramount  object,"  he  wrote,  "  is  to  save  the 
Union,  and  not  either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery. 

"  If  I  cduld  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I 
would  do  it ;  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I 
would  do  it ;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  some  and 
leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do  that. 

"  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  be- 
cause I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union ;  and  what  I 
forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not  beUeve  it  would  help 
to  save  the  Union. 

"  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am 
doing  hurts  the  cause  ;  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I 
believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause. 


Listening  to  Advice  .    253 

"  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors, 
and  I  shall  adopt  new  views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to 
be  true  views. 

"  I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  views 
of  official  duty,  and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft- 
expressed  personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be 
free." 

Some  weeks  later  a  number  of  clergymen  from  Chicago 
called  upon  the  President  and  presented  a  petition  for  the 
immediate  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  country. 
Mr.  Lincoln  answered  them  in  his  usual  common-sense 
way. 

"What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation 
from  me  do,  especially  as  we  are  now  situated  .?  .  .  Would 
my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot  even  enforce  the 
Constitution  in  the  rebel  states.-*  Is  there  a  single  court, 
or  magistrate,  or  individual  that  would  be  influenced  by  it 
there  "i  And  what  reason  is  there  to  think  it  would  have 
any  greater  effect  upon  the  slaves  than  the  late  law  of 
Congress,  which  I  approved,  and  which  offers  protection 
and  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebel  masters  who  come 
within  our  lines  "i  Yet  I  cannot  learn  that  the  law  has 
caused  a  single  slave  to  come  over  to  us.  .  .  . 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  mentioned 
these  objections.  They  indicate  the  difficulties  that  have 
thus  far  prevented  my  action  in  some  such  way  as  you 
desire. 

"  I  have  not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of  liberty  to 
the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  I 
can  assure  you  that  the  subject  is  on  my  mind,  by  day  and 


254  Abraham  Lincoln 

night,  more  than  any  other.  Whatever  shall  appear  to  be 
God's  will,  I  will  do." 

The  war  still  lagged,  and  few  besides  Lincoln  could  see 
that  any  real  progress  had  been  made.  Congress  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  which 
appeared  to  do  nothing  but  stand  in  the  President's  way. 
The  peace  party  declared  that  only  the  worst  of  tyrants 
would  attempt  to  force'  eight  millions  of  people  to  submit 
to  his  government.  The  members  of  the  cabinet  could 
not  agree.  People  became  more  and  more  impatient ;  and 
some,  whom  nothing  could  have  satisfied,  cried  out,  "Oh, 
that  we  had  a  Cromwell  to  lead  us !  " 

But  President  Lincoln,  sublime  and  unmoved,  pursued 
the  course  which  his  conscience  and  good  judgment  told 
him  was  right.  *'  Whatever  shall  appear  to  be  God's  will, 
I  will  do." 

XIV.     NEARING   THE   GREAT   ISSUE 

One  day  in  midsummer,  the  President  called  a  meeting 
of  the  cabinet.      Not  one  of  the  members  knew  why  they 

had   been    called.     When    all   were   seated,  Mr. 

Lincoln  took  up  his  favorite  joke  book,  "  Artemus 
Ward  —  His  Book."  He  opened  the  volume  and  read  to 
the  dignified  gentlemen  around  him  a  whole  chapter  of 
well-worn  jokes  and  droll  conceits.  He  had  read  it  dozens 
of  times  before,  but  now  he  read  it  as  though  it  were 
entirely  new  to  him.  He  laughed  at  every  witty  thought. 
His  merriment  was  so  boyish,  so  easily  called  forth,  that 
his  grave  listeners  were  more  pained  than  amused.      They 


Nearinsr  the  Great  Issue 


!55 


began  to  wonder  whether  the  President  had  not  lost  his 
mind. 

He  finished  the  chapter.  He  closed  the  book  and 
returned  it  to  its  place.  Then  his  whole  manner,  the  tone 
of  his  voice,  the  glance  of  his  eye,  the  expression  of  his 


Reading  the  Proclamation 


face,  changed  in  a  moment.     Every  man  in  the  room  felt 
awed  as  in  the  presence  of  a  superior  intelligence. 

The  President  then  informed  the  cabinet  that  he  had  a 
very  important  matter  to  lay  before  them.  He  did  not 
expect  to  ask  their  advice,  for  he  had  fully  made  up  his 
mind  in  regard  to  it.  He  was  willing,  however,  to  listen 
to  suggestions.     "  Things  have  gone  on,  from  bad  to  worse. 


256  AbraJiam  Lincobi 

until  I  feel  that  we  have  about  reached  the  end  of  our 
rope  on  the  plan  of  operations  we  have  been  pursuing. 
We  must  change  our  tactics,  or  lose  the  game.  I  am  now 
determined  upon  the  adoption  of  the  policy  of  emancipa- 
tion ;  and  I  have  prepared  the  draft  of  a  proclamation  to 
which  I  ask  you  to  listen." 

He  read  the  proclamation.  The  secretaries  listened  in 
silence.  It  proclaimed  freedom  to  all  the  slaves  within 
those  parts  of  the  South  which  were  at  that  time  controlled 
by  the  Confederate  government. 

A  few  slight  alterations  were  made.  Then  Secretary 
Seward  suggested  that  it  would  not  be  wise  to  issue  it  just 
then,  when  the  Union  armies  appeared  to  be  so  pressed  ; 
he  feared  that  it  would  be  viewed  "  as  the  last  measure  of 
an  exhausted  government,  a  cry  for  help "  ;  he  dreaded 
that  it  would  be  considered  "as  our  last  shriek  on  the 
retreat."  Would  it  not  be  better  to  wait  until  the  Union 
had  gained  some  decisive  victory,  and  then  in  the  moment 
of  success  make  it  known  to  the  world  t 

The  President  saw  the  wisdom  of  the  suggestion.  He 
laid  the  proclamation  aside,  and  waited. 


XV.     ANTIETAM   AND   EMANCIPATION 

Only  a  few  weeks  later,  General  Lee,  at  the  head  of  the 
Confederate  army  of  Virginia,  crossed  the  Potomac  for 
the  purpose  of  invading  the  North.  Then  it  was  that 
President  Lincoln  resolved  fully  upon  the  course  he  would 
pursue.     He  made  a  solemn  vow  that  if   Lee  should  be 


Antietam  and  Emancipation  257 

driven  back  he  would  "  crown  the  result  by  the  declaration 
of  freedom  to  the  slaves." 

On  the  17th  of  September  the  great  battle  of  Antietam 
was  fought.  The  Confederate  army  was  defeated.  It 
was  driven  back  across  the  Potomac.  The  intended  inva- 
sion of  the  North  ended  in  disaster. 

President  Lincoln  was  at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  near 
Washington,  when  he  heard  the  news.  He  determined  to 
wait  no  longer.  He  sat  down  at  once,  and  with  great  care 
wrote  a  second  draft  of  the  proclamation.  Here  and  there 
he  made  a  correction ;  here  and  there  he  added  a  neces- 
sary word  or  erased  one  that  seemed  out  of  place.  When 
the  work  was  finished,  he  hastened  back  to  the  city  and 
called  the  cabinet  together  to  listen  a  second  time  to  what 
he  had  written.  He  alone  was  the  author  of  the  proclama- 
tion ;  he  alone  would  be  responsible  for  whatever  might 
be  its  outcome.  "  I  must  do  the  best  I  can,"  he  said,  "  and 
bear  the  responsibility  of  taking  the  course  which  I  feel  I 
ought  to  take." 

On  Monday,  the  22d  of  September,  just  five  days  after 
the  battle  of  Antietam,  the  proclamation  was  published  to 
the  world. 

"  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and 
navy  thereof,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  ...  on 
the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as 
slaves  within  any  state,  or  designated  part  of  a  state,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever 

UNCOLN  —  I  7 


258  Abraham  Line  obi 

free."  That  was  the  gist  and  substance  of  the  proclama- 
tion. It  still  left  the  door  open  for  any  of  the  seceded 
states  to  return  to  the  Union  and  thereby  save  slavery 
within  its  limits. 

This  proclamation  was  only  a  preliminary  one.  The 
final  proclamation  was  issued  on  New  Year's  Day,  1863. 
Then  it  was  that  the  great  act  of  emancipation  was  com- 
pleted. "  By  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Com- 
mander-in-chief ...  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion 
against  the  authority  and  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure,  ...  I  do  order 
and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  "  certain 
designated  states  and  parts  of  states  "  are,  and  hencefor- 
ward shall  be,  free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government 
of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval 
authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  free- 
dom of  said  persons." 

Had  the  proclamation  been  made  six  months  earlier,  it 
is  probable  that  the  people  would  not  have  approved  of  it 
at  all.  But  the  best  men  in  the  North  had,  little  by  little, 
been  brought  to  the  belief  that  the  Union  could  never  be 
restored  until  the  cause  of  disunion  had  been  removed. 
Thousands  of  persons,  also,  had  become  so  tired  of  the 
war  and  so  tired  of  supporting  an  institution  which  pro- 
duced only  discord  and  disaster,  that  they  were  ready  to 
welcome  anything  that  would  promise  relief. 

There  were  extremists,  however,  who  cried  out  against 
the  President,  and  tried  to  prove  that  he  had  done  a  very 
wrong  thing.  Dissatisfied  politicians  in  the  North  spoke 
boldly  and  bitterly  against  the  proclamation. 


Antictani  and  Emancipation  259 

"  The  war  is  no  longer  a  war  for  the  Union,"  they  cried. 
"  It  is  an  abolition  war  —  a  war  for  the  niggers  !  " 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  Abolitionists  who  were 
equally  dissatisfied  and  bitter.  Nothing  that  the  President 
had  done  or  could  do  was  pleasing  to  them. 

"  He  has  \)&^vs.  forced  mXo  this  course,"  said  some. 

"  He  is  not  sincere,"  said  others,  who  had  persisted  in 
calling  him  "  the  slave  hound  of  Illinois." 

"  He  has  not  done  enough  ;  he  is  still  truckling  to  the 
slave  power,"  said  the  extremists. 

The  dissatisfaction  was  indeed  quite  general.  If  a  vote 
had  been  taken  at  that  time,  it  is  possible  that  a  majority 
in  many  of  the  free  states  would  have  cast  their  ballots 
against  the  proclamation.  One  branch  of  the  Republican 
party,  however,  supported  the  President ;  the  officers  and 
soldiers  in  the  army  were  enthusiastic  in  praising  his 
course;  Congress  approved  of  what  he  had  done.  He 
himself  was  conscious  that  he  had  done  the  right  thing,  at 
the  right  time,  and  in  the  right  way.  What  had  he  to 
fear } 

The  proclamation  did  not  promise  freedom  to  all  the 
slaves  in  the  South.  In  the  border  states  of  Delaware, 
Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  slavery 
was  not  molested  by  it.  There  were  also  several  counties 
and  towns  in  some  of  the  seceded  states  that  were  loyal  to 
the  Union  ;  and  all  such  places  were  left  "  precisely  as 
though  the  proclamation  had  not  been  made." 

It  was  the  beginning,  however,  of  the  end  of  slavery ; 
and  before  many  months  had  passed  everybody  saw  clearly 
that  such  was  the  fact.     "  In  the  light  of  history  we  can 


26o  Abraham  Lincoln 

see  that  by  this  edict  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  slavery  its  vital 
thrust,  its  mortal  doom.  It  was  the  word  of  decision,  the 
judgment  without  appeal,  the  sentence  of  doom."  ^ 

The  end  of  slavery  in  the  United  States  came  on  the 
last  day  of  January,  1865.  On  that  day  Congress  adopted 
the  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  declaring 
that  "  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as 
a  punishment  for  crime,  .  .  .  shall  exist  within  the  United 
States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction." 

More  than  four  millions  of  bondmen  were  thus  made 
free. 

XVI.    THE   TIDE   TURNS 

To  the  North  the  skies  began  to  grow  brighter.  The 
Union  armies  were  gaining  ground.  To-day  they  might 
suffer  defeat,  but  to-morrow  they  would  win  a  victory  that 
would  more  than  make  up  for  the  loss.  The  resources  of 
the  Confederate  states  were  beginning  to  fail. 

General  Ulysses  S.  Grant  had  gained  many  important 
victories  in  the  Southwest.  Nothing  seemed  impossible 
to  him.  He  besieged  Vicksburg,  the  last  but  one  of  the 
Confederate  strongholds  on  the  Mississippi.  For  nearly 
five  months  he  tried  by  every  possible  expedient  to 
capture  the  well-fortified  place.  At  length,  on  the  4th 
of  July,  the  long  siege  was  brought  to  an  end.  The 
Southern  soldiers  marched  out  of  the  city  which  they  had 
so  long  defended.  They  silently  stacked  their  arms  before 
the  fortifications,  while  the  Northern  soldiers  looked  on  as 
silently,  and  yet  elated  with  their  long-delayed  victory. 

1  Nicolay  and  Hay. 


The   Tide   Turns 


261 


The  Mississippi  River,  in  its  entire  length,  was  at  last  in 
the  possession  of  the  Union.  The  Confederacy  was  cut 
in  two. 

That  same  memorable  4th  of  July  found  the  Con- 
federate army  in  the  East  crushed,  defeated,  and  retreat- 
ing before  the  forces  of  the  Union.  General  Lee  had 
made  a  second  attempt  to  carry  the  war  into  the  North. 
He  had  advanced  into  Pennsylvania.  At  Gettysburg  the 
invaders  attacked  the 
forces  of  the  Union  that 
were  drawn  up  to  repel 
them.  During  the  first 
three  days  in  July  the 
battle  raged  fearfully. 
The  slaughter  was  dread- 
ful. More  than  twenty 
thousand  Union  soldiers 
were  killed  or  wounded. 
The  loss  on  the  side  of 
the  Confederates  was  al- 
most as  great  —  it  was 
even  greater,  for  they 
had  fewer  reserves,  and  their  resources  were  fast  being  ex- 
hausted. The  third  day  told  the  tale.  The  Southerners 
were  beaten,  driven  back.  Those  who  survived  retired 
slowly,  making  their  way  sullenly  back  to  Virginia.  Gen- 
eral Meade,  commanding  the  Union  army,  followed  in 
their  wake ;  but  the  struggle  at  Gettysburg  had  been 
so  fearful  that  he  cautiously  refrained  from  provoking 
another. 


Ulysses  S    Grant 


262  A  bra /mm  Lincoln 

The  tide  had  turned  at  last.  From  the  day  of  the 
repulse  at  Gettysburg  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  was 
hopeless. 

President  Lincoln  was  much  disappointed  because  Gen- 
eral Meade  did  not  follow  up  his  victory  and  deal  a  still 
more  crushing  blow  to  the  Confederates.  It  would  have 
ended  the  war,  he  thought. 

"  My  dear  general,"  he  wrote  to  Meade,  "  I  do  not 
believe  you  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  misfortune 
involved  in  Lee's  escape.  He  was  within  your  easy 
grasp,  and  to  close  upon  him  would,  in  connection  with 
your  late  successes,  have  ended  the  war.  As  it  is,  the 
war  will  be  prolonged  indefinitely." 

And  it  was  prolonged,  but  always  with  the  odds  against 
the  South. 

Ten  days  after  these  events,  the  President  issued  a 
proclamation,  setting  apart  the  6th  day  of  August  as 
a  day  of  national  thanksgiving.  He  called  upon  all  loyal 
people  everywhere  to  observe  the  day  and  "  to  render  the 
homage  due  to  the  Divine  majesty  for  the  wonderful 
things  He  has  done  in  the  nation's  behalf." 

In  October  the  President  issued  another  proclamation 
of  similar  import,  setting  apart  the  last  Thursday  in 
November  as  a  day  in  which  all  the  people  of  the  land 
should  unite  in  giving  thanks  to  God  for  all  His  mercies. 
Thus  was  instituted  the  Thanksgiving  Day  — -  that  national 
November  festival  —  so  dear  to  all  Americans.  Every 
year,  save  one.  since  that  memorable  1863,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  following  the  example  of 
Lincoln,   has   sent   forth   a   proclamation   designating  the 


I 


The  Tide  Turns  263 

last  Thursday  in  November  as  the  day  in  which  God's 
bounties  are  to  be  especially  remembered  with  thanks- 
giving and  praise. 

The  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  was  set  apart  as  a  great 
burying  ground,  or  national  cemetery,  for  the  soldiers  who 
had  lost  their  lives  in  the  service  of  their  country.  On 
the  19th  of  November  the  cemetery  was  dedicated  with 
very  solemn  and  impressive  ceremonies.  The  great  men 
of  the  nation  were  there.  Edward  Everett,  the  most 
accomplished  public  speaker  of  that  time,  delivered  a  long 
and  scholarly  oration.  It  was  expected  that  the  President 
would  also  give  an  appropriate  and  perhaps  lengthy  ad- 
dress. He  arose  at  the  proper  moment  and  drew  from 
his  hat  a  half-sheet  of  foolscap,  on  which  he  had  written 
a  memorandum  of  that  which  he  intended  to  say.  The 
speech  was  brief :  — 

"  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty, 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

"  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing 
whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle- 
field of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of 
that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave 
their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether 
fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

"  But  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate  —  we  cannot 
consecrate  —  we  cannot  hallow  —  this  ground.     The  brave 


The  Tide  Turns  265 

men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here, 
but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us, 
the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished 
work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the 
great  task  remaining  before  us,  —  that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which 
they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion,  —  that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain  ; 
that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  free- 
dom ;  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

That  was  all.  The  shortness  of  the  speech  caused 
people  to  think  but  little  of  it  at  the  time.  The  brilliant 
effort  of  Edward  Everett,  the  orator,  was  believed  to  be 
the  event  of  the  day. 

"Lincoln's  address  was  a  great  disappointment/'  said 
Mr.  Seward. 

Mr.  Lincoln  himself  regretted  that  he  had  not  given 
more  time  to  it.  "  I  tell  you  it  won't  scour,''  he  said  to  a 
friend.    "  It  is  a  flat  failure.    The  people  are  disappointed." 

But  little  by  little  it  began  to  dawn  upon  the  minds  of 
men  of  all  classes  that  the  little  speech  was  one  of  the 
noblest  orations  delivered  in  modern  times.  The  long  and 
learned  discourse  of  Edward  Everett  is  now  but  little 
thought  of  ;  nobody  reads  it,  nobody  praises  it.  But  Lin- 
coln's three-minute  speech  has  taken  rank  among  the 
classics  of  the  world;  it  is  read  and  admired,  it  is  reread 


266  AbraJiaiu  Lincoln 

and  pondered  upon,  wherever  the  English  language  is 
known.  If  all  else  in  prose  that  has  been  written  or 
spoken  in  America  should  be  forgotten,  Lincoln's  address 
at  Gettysburg  would  still  be  remembered. 

XVII.     RENOMINATED 

The  war  still  dragged  slowly  along.  The  Confederacy 
was  near  the  end  of  its  resources.  Every  day  the  cause  of 
the  seceding  states  became  more  hopeless ;  every  day  the 
distress  and  destitution  of  the  Southern  people  increased. 
It  was  plain  that  unless  some  sort  of  help  should 
come  from  outside,  the  South  must  sooner  or 
later  submit.  The  time  was  near  at  hand  for  another 
presidential  election.  The  people  of  the  North  were 
still  by  no  means  united.  If  a  new  President  —  one 
pledged  to  make  peace  at  any  cost  —  could  be  elected,  the 
South  might  still  have  hope.  And  so,  in  the  face  of  every 
discouragement,  in  the  face  of  defeat,  of  an  exhausted 
treasury,  of  an  impoverished  country,  the  Confederate 
armies  still  boldly  kept  the  field. 

It  was  known  that  President  Lincoln  wished  to  show 
every  possible  leniency  to  the  men  of  the  South.  Other 
persons  might  cherish  bitter  hatred  toward  the  foes  of 
the  Union,  but  he  had  no  such  feeling.  Other  men  desired 
to  punish  in  the  sternest  manner,  as  rebels  and  traitors,  all 
those  who  had  taken  up  arms  against  the  government;  but 
his  sole  wish  was  to  restore  the  Union  without  causing 
unnecessary  distress,  without  doing  aught  for  revenge; 
He    went   so    far   as    to   issue    a    proclamation    granting 


Renominated  267 

amnesty  to  all  men  of  the  South,  except  certain  officers 
and  leaders,  who  would  take  a  simple  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union.  He  went  even  farther,  and 
urged  the  passage  of  a  law  providing  that  slaveholders 
should  receive  pay  for  their  slaves. 

He  practiced  the  true  Christian  principle.  To  him  all 
men  were  his  brothers.  If  some  had  erred,  the  greater 
was  the  pity ;  he  cherished  no  ill-will  toward  them  ;  he 
knew  no  such  word  as  revenge. 

As  we  have  already  learned,  however,  there  were  two 
classes  of  men  in  the  North  who  were  never  satisfied. 
One  was  composed  of  that  extreme  type  of  Abolitionists 
who,  from  opposing  slavery,  had  come  to  hate  the  South 
with  unreasoning  bitterness.  The  other  was  composed  of 
men  who  wanted  peace  even  though  the  Union  should  be 
destroyed.  Mr.  Lincoln's  kindliness  toward  the  South 
was  misconstrued ;  and  his  suggestion  that  the  slaves 
should  be  paid  for  raised  a  storm  of  indignation  even 
aniong  men  who  had  supported  him  in  all  other  measures. 
Emerson  wrote :  — 

"Pay  ransom  to  the  owner, 
Ay,  fill  it  up  to  the  brim  ! 
Who  is  the  owner  ?     The  slave  is  owner, 
And  ever  was.     Pay  him." 

Certain  Republican  politicians  who  wanted  a  more  vig- 
orous prosecution  of  the  war,  started  a  movement  to  pre- 
vent Mr.  Lincoln's  being  renominated  for  the  presidency. 
They  said  that  his  policy  had  been  "  imbecile  and  vacillat- 
ing," and  that  a  stronger  man  was  needed  at  the  helm. 
Horace  Greeley  wrote  and  spoke  against  him.     Wendell 


268  Abraham  Lincoln 

riiillips  declared  that  the  reelection  of  Lincoln  would  mean 
the  downfall  of  the  Union,  or  something  worse.  General 
Grant,  who  had  proved  himself  to  be  the  ablest  of  all  the 
Union  generals  in  the  field,  was  spoken  of  as  a  good  man 
for  the  presidency. 

"If  the  people  think,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "that  General 
Grant  can  end  the  rebellion  sooner  by  being  in  this  place, 
I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  out  of  it." 

But  General  Grant  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  those 
dissatisfied  people,  and  declared  that  Lincoln  must  be 
reelected. 

A  few  of  the  radicals  finally  got  together  and  nominated 
General  John  Charles  Fremont  as  their  candidate  for  the 
presidency.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  of  it,  and  was 
told  that  the  convention  was  very  small,  he  took  up  his 
Bible  and  read  from  the  First  Book  of  Samuel,  "  And 
every  one  that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in 
debt,  and  every  one  that  was  discontented,  gathered  them- 
selves unto  him ;  and  he  became  a  captain  over  them  ; 
and  there  were  with  him  about  four  hundred  men." 

In  June  a  national  convention  of  Union  men,  composed 
largely  of  Republicans,  but  partly  also  of  patriotic  Demo- 
crats, met  in  Baltimore  and  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  reelection  to  the  high  office  which  he  had  filled  so  long. 

Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  was  nominated  for  the 
vice  presidency.  He  was  a  Southern  man,  having  been 
born  in  a  slave  state.  He  had  been  a  slaveholder.  But 
he  had  always  been  a  stern  defender  of  the  Union  and  a 
fierce  enemy  of  secession.  He  had  won  great  confidence 
as  the  military  governor  of  his  own  state ;  and  his  nomi- 


Union  or  Disunion  ?  269 

nation  secured  the  support  of  many  "War    Democrats," 
especially  in  the  border  states. 


XVIII.     UNION   OR   DISUNION  ? 

A  national  convention  of  Democrats  met  in  Chicago 
late  in  the  summer,  and  nominated  General  George  B. 
McClellan  for  the  presidency.  This  convention  repre- 
sented only  those  members  of  the  party  who  were  opposed 
to  the  continuance  of  the  war ;  for  the  so-called  War 
Democrats  were  for  the  most  part  in  favor  of  the  re- 
election of  President  Lincoln,  and  would  therefore  vote 
with  the  Union  party.  "  After  four  years  of  failure  to 
restore  the  Union  by  war,"  said  the  members  of  this  con- 
vention, "  immediate  efforts  should  be  made  for  a  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention  of 
the  states,  or  other  practicable  means,  to  the  end  that 
peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  federal  Union 
of  the  states." 

President  Lincoln  pursued  steadfastly  the  course  which 
his  rare  good  judgment  and  his  conscience  told  him 
was  the  best  for  the  country.  Many  persons  proposed 
plans  for  bringing  the  war  to  an  end,  and  every  one 
believed  himself  to  be  wiser  than  the  President.  But 
Jefferson  Davis  declared  that  no  terms  of  peace  would  be 
considered  that  did  not  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
South.  "The  North  was  mad  and  blind,"  he  said;  "it 
would  not  let  us  govern  ourselves ;  and  so  the  war  came ; 
and  now  it  must  go  on  till  the  last  man  of  this  generation 
falls  in  his  tracks,  and  his  children  seize  his  musket  and 


I 


2/0  AbnxJiani  Lincoln 

fight  our  battles,  unless  you  acknowledge  our  right  to  self 
government.  We  are  not  fighting  for  slavery,  we  are 
fighting  for  independence ;  and  that,  or  extermination,  we 
will  have." 

"We  accepted  this  war  for  an  object,  a  worthy  object," 
said  President  Lincoln,  "  and  the  war  will  end  when  that 
object  is  attained.  Under  God,  I  hope  it  never  will  end 
until  that  time.  Speaking  of  the  present  campaign,  Gen- 
eral Grant  is  reported  to  have  said,  '  I  am  going  through 
on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer.'  This  war  has  taken 
three  years;  it  was  begun  or  accepted  upon  the  line  of' 
restoring  the  national  authority  over  the  whole  national 
domain,  and  for  the  American  people,  as  far  as  my  knowl- 
edge enables  me  to  speak,  I  say  we  are  going  through  on 
this  line  if  it  takes  three  years  more." 

XIX.     ELECTED    .AGAIN 

The  last  weary  summer  of  the  war  passed  slowly  enough. 

Unmoved  by  the    clamors   of    his    enemies,    undisturbed 

by  their   thousand   adverse   criticisms,    the  lone 
1804 

pilot  of  the  ship  of  state  stood  steadfastly  by  the 

helm,  confidently  hoping  that  the  storm  was  near  its  end. 

"  I  see  the  President   almost   every  day,"  wrote  Walt 

Whitman.     "  He  never  sleeps  at  the  White  House  during 

the  hot  season,  but  has  quarters  at  a  healthy  location,  some 

three  miles  north  of  the  city,  the  Soldier's  Home,  a  United 

States  military  establishment.      I   saw  him    this    morning 

about   8.30,    coming   in    to   business,  riding   on  Vermont 

Avenue,  near  I  Street. 


Elected  Again  271 

*'  He  always  has  a  company  of  twenty-fiv^e  or  thirty 
cavalry,  with  sabers  drawn,  and  held  upright  over  their 
shoulders.  The  party  makes  no  great  show  in  uniforms 
or  horses.  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  saddle,  generally  rides  a 
good-sized,  easy-going  gray  horse,  is  dressed  in  plain  black, 
somewhat  rusty  and  dusty,  wears  a  black  stiff  hat,  and 
looks  as  ordinary  in  attire,  etc.,  as  the  commonest  man. 
A  lieutenant,  with  yellow  straps,  rides  at  his  left,  and 
following  behind,  two  by  two,  come  the  cavalrymen  in 
their  yellow-striped  jackets. 

"  They  are  generally  going  at  a  slow  trot,  as  that  is  the 
pace  set  them  by  the  one  they  wait  upon.  The  sabers  and 
accouterments  clank,  and  the  entirely  unornamental  cortege, 
as  it  trots  toward  Lafayette  Square,  arouses  no  sensation, 
only  some  curious  stranger  stops  and  gazes.  I  see  very 
plainly  Abraham  Lincoln  s  dark  brown  face,  with  the  deep- 
cut  lines,  the  eyes,  etc.,  always  to  me  with  a  latent  sadness 
in  the  expression.  .  .  , 

"  Earlier  in  the  summer  I  occasionally  saw  the  President 
and  his  wife,  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  afternoon,  out 
in  a  barouche,  on  a  pleasure  ride  through  the  city.  Mrs. 
Lincoln  was  dressed  in  complete  black,  with  a  long  crape 
veil.  The  equipage  of  the  plainest  kind,  only  two  horses, 
and  they  nothing  extra. 

"  They  passed  me  once  very  close,  and  I  saw  the  Presi- 
dent in  the  face  fully,  as  they  were  moving  slow,  and  his 
look,  though  abstracted,  happened  to  be  directed  steadily 
in  my  eye.  He  bowed  and  smiled,  but  far  beneath  his 
smile  I  noticed  well  the  expression  I  have  alluded  to. 
None  of  the  artists  or  pictures  have  caught  the  subtle  and 


2/2  Abrahavi  Lincoln 

indirect  expression  of    this  man's  lace.     One  of  the  great 
painters  of  two  or  three  centuries  ago  is  needed." 

The  election  came  in  November.  Of  the  states  that 
voted  on  that  day  Abraham  Lincohi  carried  every  one  but 
three.  Of  the  electoral  votes  he  received  212,  while  only 
21  were  cast  for  McClellan.  There  was  no  longer  anv 
doubt  as  to  how  the  President  was  regarded  by  the  coun- 
try at  large.  His  enemies  and  detractors  were  much 
weaker  than  they  had  supposed  themselves  to  be.  What 
could  they  do  now  but  keep  silent,  and  permit  the  man  of 
the  people  to  pursue  his  own  course  to  the  end. 

XX.    "LET   US   STRIVE   ON   TO   FINISH   THE   WORK" 

The  end  was  surely  drawing  nigh.  Nearly  the  whole 
of  the  South  was  under  the  control  of  the  Union  forces. 
General  Sherman,  at  the  head  of  a  victorious  army,  was 
marching  to  the  sea  through  Georgia.  Charleston  was 
taken,  and  the  American  flag  was  again  floating  over  Fort 
Sumter.  In  Tennessee,  the  Confederate  army  under  Gen- 
eral Hood  was  routed  and  ahnost  destroyed.  In  Virginia, 
General  Grant  was  besieging  Petersburg  and  threatening 
Richmond,  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  with  all  that  was  left  of  his  once  splendid 
army,  was  making  the  last  desperate  stand  in  defense  of 
the  Southern  cause. 

On   the  4th  of  March  President  Lincoln  delivered  his 

second  inaugural  address.     Like  his  address  at  Gettysburg, 

it  was  very  brief,   nobly  worded,  compact  with 

thought,  full  of    tenderness,  breathing  the  very 

gospel  of   the  brotherhood   of  man.     Not  a  word  did  it 


Let  us  strive  on  to  finish  tJic  Work'' 


273 


contain  of  boasting  over  victories  or 
of  rejoicini;   over   the  triumph    of      /. 
his  cause  —  much  less  of  exult-      Mii 
ing    over    the    defeat    of   the 
South.        "It     had     all     the 
solemnity  of  a  father's  last 
admonition  and  blessing  to 
his  children  before  he  lay 
down  to  die,"  says  one  who 
listened  to  it. 

The  address  will  be  re- 
membered and  repeated  in 
ages  to  come  as  among  the 
noblest  utterances  of 
modern  times.  You  may 
read  it  many  times,  and  at 
each  reading  you  may  dis- 
cover some  new  beauty  or 
some  deep  thought  worthy 
of  being  remembered  and 
pondered  upon. 

"  Fellow  countrymen  :  At 
this  second  appearing  to  take 
the  oath  of  the  presidential 
office  there  is  less  occasion 
for  an  extended  address  than 
there  was  at  the  first.  Then 
a  statement,  somewhat  in  de- 
tail, of  a  course  to  be  pursued, 
seemed     fitting    and     proper. 

LINCOLN  —  18 


'With  Malice  toward  None" 


274  Abraham  Lincoln 

Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public 
declarations  have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every 
point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs 
the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation, 
little  that  is   new  could   be  presented. 

"The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself ;  and 
it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to 
all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in 
regard  to  it  is  ventured. 

"  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this,  four  years  ago, 
all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil 
war.  All  dreaded  it  —  all  sought  to  avert  it.  While  the 
inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place, 
devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  in- 
surgent agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  with- 
out war — seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  divide  effects, 
by  negotiation. 

"  Both  parties  deprecated  war ;  but  one  of  them  would 
make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation  survive;  and  the  other 
would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish.  And  the  war 
came. 

"  One  eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored 
slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  local- 
ized in  the  Southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  con- 
stituted a  pecuHar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew 
that  this  interest  was,  somehow,  the  cause  of  the  war. 
To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest  was 
the  object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the 
Union,    even   by   war ;    while    the    Government   claimed 


"  Let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  Work''  275 

no    right   to  do   more   than  to  restrict  the  territorial  en- 
largement of   it. 

"  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or 
the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither 
anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease 
with,  or  even  before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease. 
Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less  fun- 
damental and  astounding.  Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and 
pray  to  the  same  God ;  and  each  invokes  His  aid  against 
the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should 
dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their 
bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces ;  but  let  us 
judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayers  of  both 
could  not  be  answered — that  of  neither  has  been  answered 
fully.  The  Almighty  has  His  own  purposes.  *  Woe  unto 
the  world  because  of  offenses  !  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offenses  come;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense 
Cometh  ! ' 

"  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of 
these  offenses  which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  must 
needs  come,  but  which,  having  continued  through  His 
appointed  time,  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He 
gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the 
woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we 
discern  therein  any  departure  from  those  divine  attributes 
which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to 
Him  .? 

"Fondly  do  we  hope  —  fervently  do  we  pray  —  that 
this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet, 
if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by 


276  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  bondman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited 
toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn 
with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  with  the 
sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it 
must  be  said,  'The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and 
righteous  altogether.' 

"  With  malice  toward  none  ;  with  charity  for  all ;  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in  ;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds ;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan — to  do  all  which 
may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves,  and  with  all  nations." 

No  other  inaugural  address  was  ever  so  brief  as  this  ; 
but  it  will  endure  in  the  hearts  and  memories  of  the  people 
long  after  all  others  are  forgotten.  "  America  never  had 
another  President  who  found  such  words  in  the  depth  of 
his  heart." 

XXI.     IN  RICHMOND 

On  the  3d  of  April  General  Grant  entered  Petersburg, 
which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Confederates,  and  at 
about  the  same  time  General  Lee,  with  his  broken  and  dis- 
couraged army,  marched  out  of  Richmond.  The  President, 
who  had  been  waiting  for  some  time  at  City  Point, 
hastened  to  join  General  Grant  and  with  him  walked 
through  the  deserted  streets  of  Petersburg.  On  the  fol- 
lowing morning  he  embarked  on  a  government  gunboat, 
and,  with  no  companion   but   his   son    Tad,  went   up   to 


///  Richmond 


277 


Richmond,  of  which  General  Weitzel  had  just  taken  pos- 
session. 

Silently  and  without  any  triumphal  display  he  entered 
the  fallen  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  The  city  was  full 
of  confusion ;  angry  and  drunken  men  were  filling  the 
air  with  threats  and  curses;  houses  were  burning;  the 
negroes,  turned  loose  upon  the  world,  were  wild  with  their 
new  -  found  freedom. 
Yet  the  President  with- 
out one  thought  for 
his  own  safety  walked 
through  the  streets  un- 
attended. The  day 
was  warm,  and  his 
great  mind  was  filled 
with  many  conflicting 
emotions.  He  was 
"  perplexed  and  suffer- 
ing." In  one  hand  he 
carried  his  hat  with 
which  he  was  trying  to 
fan  himself.     The  per-  ~ 

spiration  rose  in  drops  upon  his  heated,  careworn  face.  In 
his  eyes  was  that  old-time,  far-away  expression,  as  though 
he  were  seeing  visions  of  another  world. 

But,  as  he  walked,  the  fact  soon  became  known  and  was 
repeated  among  the  blacks  that  the  tall,  homely  stranger 
was  "  President  Linkum."  Their  enthusiasm  at  seeing 
him  knew  no  bounds.  They  crowded  around  him,  they 
followed  him  with  blessings.     Hats  and  handkerchiefs  were 


Richmond 


2/8  Abraham  Lincoln 

tossed  into  the  air ;  the  young  danced  and  shouted,  and  the 
old  wept  tears  of  joy.  Cries  of  "Glory!  Hallelujah!" 
were  heard  on  every  hand. 

One  old  Aunty  had  a  sick  white  child  in  her  arms,  who 
was  alarmed  at  the  surrounding  riot,  and  was  crying  to  go 
home ;  but  the  good  negress  kept  trying  to  get  the  child 
to  gaze  at  the  President,  which  she  was  afraid  to  do,  and 
she  would  try  to  turn  the  child's  head  in  that  direction, 
and  would  turn  around  herself,  in  order  to  accompHsh  the 
same  object.  "  See  yeah,  honey,"  she  would  urge,  "  look 
at  de  Savior,  an'  you'll  git  well.  Touch  the  hem  of  his 
garment,  an'  yo'  pain'll  be  done  gone." 

Another  black  woman,  crazed  with  delight,  could  do 
nothing  but  jump  up  and  down,  clapping  her  hands  and 
shouting,  "  Bless  de  Lord !  Bless  de  Lord  !  Bless  de 
Lord  ! " 

On  every  side  young  and  old  were  springing  into  the 
air,  spinning  around  in  circles,  knocking  their  heads 
together,  shouting  in  each   other's  ears:  — 

"God  bress  Massa  Linkum  !" 

"  He's  de  Messiah,  suah  !  " 

"  Oh,  dis  am  de  judgment  day  !  " 

"  I'se  on  de  mount  of  rejoicin' !  " 

"  Come,  Lord,  I'se  ready  to  go  !  " 

"  I  see  de  chariot  of  fire  !  " 

"  My  tribulations  all  done  gone !  " 

"Jerusalem,  my  happy  home!" 

"  Dere'll  be  no  more  sighin'  dar  !  " 

"  May  de  good  Lord  bress  you,  President  Linkum  .'  " 

The  President,  embarrassed  and  painfully  disconcerted, 


Friday^  the  FoHricciitli  of  ^Ipril  279 

bowed  silently  to  his  humble  friends  and  moved  slowly 
on.  But  soon  the  street  became  so  packed  with  the  wild 
multitude  that  a  body  of  soldiers  was  sent  to  clear  the 
way.  The  President  was  escorted  to  the  house  in  which 
General  Weitzel  had  his  headquarters.  He  did  not  know, 
or  if  he  knew  he  took  no  thought  of  the  fact,  that  it  was 
the  very  house  which  Jefferson  Davis  had  occupied  as 
President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  from  which 
he  had  hastily  fled  only  two  days  before.  Overcome  with 
the  strain  of  the  last  few  hours,  he  sank  into  the  first  chair 
that  was  offered  him.  It  was  the  chair  which  the  Con- 
federate chieftain  had  used  at  his  writing  desk. 

XXII.     FRIDAY,  THE    FOURTEENTH    OF    APRIL 

On  the  9th  of  April,  at  Appomattox  Courthouse,  Gen- 
eral Lee  surrendered  to  General  Grant.  The  half-starved 
Confederate  soldiers  were  supplied  with  rations  by  their 
victors,  and  each  officer  was  permitted  to  retain  his  side 
arms,  his  baggage,  and  his  horse.  Three  days  later  the 
remnant  of  the  army  which  had  so  long  and  so  bravely 
withstood  the  superior  forces  of  the  Union  had  dispersed 
in  every  direction.  The  terrible  war  which  for  four  years 
had  desolated  the  country  was  at  an  end. 

The  Union  was  saved,  and  Abraham  Lincoln's  work 
was  done. 

The  14th  of  April  was  Good  Friday,  the  day  which  the 
Christian  world  observes  as  the  anniversary  of  the  cru- 
cifixion of  the  Saviour.  In  the  afternoon  the  President, 
feeling  relieved  in  a  measure  from  the  great  burden  which 


28o  Abraham  Lincoln 

he  had  borne  so  long,  went  driving  with  Mrs.  Lincoln. 
He  was  in  fine  spirits,  and  talked  and  laughed  with  a 
cheerfulness  of  manner  which  he  had  not  shown  for  years. 
His  wife  did  not  understand  it,  she  grew  uneasy.  "  I  have 
seen  you  thus  only  once  before,"  she  said  half  reproach- 
fully, "and  that  was  just  before  our  dear  Willie  died." 

That  evening  President  Lincoln  with  his  wife  and  a  few 
friends  attended  the  theater.  At  a  few  minutes  past  ten 
o'clock  an  assassin,  whose  name  may  well  be  forgotten, 
entered  the  box  in  which  the  presidential  party  sat.  All 
were  intent  upon  the  play,  and  no  one  saw  him  enter.  He 
pointed  a  pistol  at  the  back  of  the  President's  head  and 
fired.  He  leaped  down  upon  the  stage,  shouting :  "  Sic 
semper  tyrannis  !  The  South  is  avenged  !  "  Then  he  ran 
behind  the  scenes  and  out  by  the  stage  door. 

The  President  fell  forward.  His  eyes  closed.  He  nei- 
ther saw,  nor  heard,  nor  felt  anything  that  was  taking 
place.  Kind  arms  carried  him  to  a  private  house  not  far 
away.     But  there  was  no  hope. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  seven  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing the  watchers  at  his  bedside  announced  that  he  was 
dead. 

The  whole  nation  wept  for  him.  In  the  South  as  well 
as  in  the  North  the  people  bowed  themselves  in  grief. 
Those  who  had  been  his  enemies  and  detractors  suddenly 
began  to  realize  how  wonderful  a  man  he  was  —  how  great 
his  intellect,  how  tender  his  heart,  how  true  in  all  his  acts. 
In  every  part  of  the  world  there  was  sincere  mourning ; 
and  in  every  civilized  land  tributes  of  sorrow  and  apprecia- 
tion and  love  were  paid  to  his  memory. 


Friday,   the  Fourteenth  of  April  281 

His  body  was  taken  to  Springfield,  where  it  rests  in  a 
tomb  built  by  the  people  of  the  country  which  he  saved 
from  dismemberment  and  ruin.  When  the  monument  that 
stands  over  his  tomb  was  dedicated,  General  Grant  spoke 
truly  the  conviction  of  every  patriotic  heart,  "  In  his  death 
the  nation  lost  its  greatest  hero ;  in  his  death  the  South 
lost  its  most  just  friend." 

XXIII.   ELEGY 

Walt  Whitman,  the  ''good  gray  poet  "  who  had  so  often, 
during  the  battle  summers,  watched  the  President  riding 
through  the  streets  of  Washington,  has  left  us  the  follow- 
ing noble  tribute  to  the  Captain  who  so  bravely  steered 
the  ship  of  state  through  the  storm  and  stress  of  civil 
war:  — 

"  O  Captain  !  my  Captain  !  our  fearful  trip  is  done, 
The  ship  has  weather'd  every  rack,  the  prize  we  sought  is  won, 
The  port  is  near,  the  bells  I  hear,  the  people  all  exulting. 
While  follow  eyes  the  steady  keel,  the  vessel  grim  and  daring; 
But  O  heart  !  heart  !  heart  ! 
O  the  bleeding  drops  of  red. 

Where  on  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen  cold  and  dead. 

"  O  Captain  !  my  Captain  !  rise  up  and  hear  the  bells  ; 
Rise  up  —  for  you  the  flag  is  flung  —  for  you  the  bugle  trills, 
For  you  bouquets  and  ribbon'd  wreaths  —  for  you  the  shores  a-crowd- 

ing' 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying  mass,  their  eager  faces  turning; 
Here.  Captain  !  dear  father  I 
This  arm  beneath  your  head  ! 

It  is  some  dream  —  that  on  the  deck 
You've  fallen  cold  and  dead. 


282 


Abraham  Lincoln 


"  My  Captain  does  not  answer,  his  lips  are  pale  and  still, 
My  father  does  not  feel  my  arm,  he  has  no  pulse  nor  will, 
The  ship  is  anchored  safe  and  sound,  its  voyage  closed  and  done, 
From  fearful  trip  the  victor  ship  comes  in  with  object  won ; 
Exult,  O  shores  !  and  ring,  O  bells  ! 
But  I,  with  mournful  tread. 

Walk  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen  cold  and  dead." 


The  Lincoln  Monument,  Springfield 


INDEX 


Abolitionists,  organize  Liberty  party,  134, 
142;  name  applied  to  members  of 
Antislavery  Society,  141  ;  in  riot  at 
Boston,  178 ;  joined  by  former  sym- 
pathizers with  South,  179;  how  re- 
garded in  the  South,  189,  218;  an 
extreme  type,  200 ;  supposed  by  South 
to  be  plotting  invasion,  203  ;  "  pelted 
with  rotten  eggs,"  215  ;  their  "  trained 
gorilla,"  218 ;  not  all  in  sympathy 
with  Lincoln,  223  ;  some  acknowledge 
right  of  secession,  228  ;  their  repu- 
tation for  cannibalism,  245;  accuse 
Lincoln  of  favoring  slaveholders,  246  ; 
not  satisfied  with  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, 259. 

Adams,  John,  20. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  108;  leading  opjjont'nt  of 
slavery  in  Congress,  150;  death,  162. 

"^sop's  Fables,"  55. 

Alabama,  215,  216,  220. 

Amendment,  the  Thirteenth,  260. 

American  Antislavery  Society,  141. 

Anderson,  Robert,  94,  231. 

Antietam,  battle  of,  257. 

Anti-Lecompton  Democrats,  193. 

Anti-Nebraska   Democr;Us,  170,  172. 

Antislavery  Society,  141 ;  antislavery 
Democrats,  among  organizers  of  the 
Free-soil  party,  155. 

Arkansas,  216. 

"  Arte m us  Ward,"  Lincoln's  favorite  joke 
book,  254. 

Austin,  Moses  and  Stephen,  found 
American  colonies  in  Texas,  145. 

Baltimore,  Maryland,  216,  268. 

Bates,  Edward,  candidate  at  Chicago,  211; 

member  of  Lincoln's  cabinet,  230. 
Baton  Rouge,  222. 


Beauregard,  General,  232,  234,  239. 

Bell,  John,  of  Tennessee,  217. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  151. 

Birney,  James  G.,  134. 

Black  Hawk  War,  89,  94. 

"  Black  Republicans,"  215,  218. 

Blackstone's  "  Commentaries,"  98. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  230. 

Boone,  Daniel,  12,  14;  his  road  to  Ken- 
tucky, 18 ;  known  to  Lincoln's  ma- 
ternal ancestors,  22. 

Boonville,  Indiana,  68. 

Boston,  Abolitionists  mobbed  in,  142; 
slave  riots  in,  177;  in  favor  of  com- 
promise, 221. 

Breckenridge,  lawyer,  68. 

Breckenridge,  John  C,  nominated  for 
and  elected  to  the  vice  presidency, 
182,  183 ;  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency by  Southern  Democrats,  217. 

Brooks,  Preston  S.,  179. 

Brown,  John,  his  attempt  to  free  the 
slaves  by  force,  200-205. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen,  one  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Free-soil  party,  155. 

Buchanan,  James,  219,  220,222;  minister 
to  England,  178;  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  182;  his  election,  183. 

Bull  Run,  battle  of,  239,  240. 

Buller,  Benjamin  F.,  238,  245. 

Builer,  William,  124. 

Calhoun,  John,  surveyor,  103,  186. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  no;  a  Whig  leader, 
113;  opposes  compromise  of  1850, 
160 ;  his  death,  162  ;  defender  of  States' 
Rights  doctrine,  188;  South  Carolina 
convention  at  his  tomb,  219. 

California,  acquired  from  Mexico,  149, 
239;  applies  for  admission  to  the 
Union  159;  becomes  a  state,  161. 


283 


284 


Index 


Cameron,  Simon,  candidate  at  Chicago, 
211 ;  Secretary  of  War,  229. 

Cartwright,  Peter,  150. 

Cass,  General  Lewis,  92,  155. 

Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Democratic 
convention  at,  214;  state  convention 
at,  219;  capture  of  forts  there,  232; 
retaken  by  Union  forces,  272. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  leader  of  Free-soil 
party,  155;  candidate  at  Chicago, 
212  ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  229. 

Chicago,  national  convention  at,  210; 
Mr.  Douglas  in,  166,  236. 

Circuit,  riding  the,  128. 

Clay,  Henry,  an  early  ideal  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, 43;  political  leader,  106;  the 
Great  Pacificator,  iii;  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Whig  party,  1 13 ; 
urges  Missouri  Compromise,  140; 
Whig  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
146;  urges  compromise  of  1850,  160; 
his  death,  162. 

Compromises  :  with  South  Carolina, 
III  ;  Missouri  Compromise,  140, 
165;   compromise  of  1850,  160. 

Confederate  States  of  America,  forma- 
tion of,  220 ;  assumes  control  of  fed- 
eral forts,  231 ;  joined  by  other  states, 
234,  236;  sends  envoys  to  Europe, 
247 ;  independence  of,  urged  l)y 
Northern  sympathizers,  251 ;  Lincoln 
proclaims  emancipation  in,  256;  con- 
tinues struggle  in  face  of  defeat,  266 ; 
army  of,  surrenders,  279. 

Congress,  representation  of  North  and 
South  in,  139;  its  power  to  control 
slavery,  140;  Lincoln  in,  149-157; 
notable  men  in,  150;  struggle  in  over 
admission  of  California,  159;  extra 
session  of,  237 ;  approves  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation,  259;  adopts  the 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  260. 

Conventions,  political :  beginning  of,  114; 
Republican  convention  at  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois,  181 ;  at  Philadelphia,  181 ; 
at  Decatur,  208;  at  Chicago,  210; 
Democratic  convention  at  Charleston, 
214;  at  Baltimore,  216,  217;  Union 
convention  at  Baltimore,  268  ;  Demo- 
cratic convention  at  Chicago,  269. 


Crawford,  Andrew,  teacher,  63. 

Crawford,  Josiah,  65. 

Cromwell,  impatient  cry  for  a,  254. 

Crume,  Ralph,  58. 

Cuba,  annexation  of,  urged,  178. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  lieutenant  in  U.S. 
army,  93;  congressman,  152,  204; 
president  of  the  Confederacy,  221 ; 
urged  to  decisive  action,  231 ;  refuses 
Overtures  of  peace,  269 ;  flees  from 
Richmond,  279. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  adopted, 
9;  quoted,  181,  198. 

Democratic  party,  organization  of,  107; 
convention  system,  114;  party  of  the 
people,  121 ;  platform  of  1840,  131 ; 
defeat,  133 ;  shuns  slavery  agitation, 
140;  favors  annexation  of  Texas, 
144;  in  campaign  of  1848,  155; 
friendly  to  slavery,  163 ;  divided  in 
Illinois,  170,  192,  193;  a  national 
party,  197;  divided  at  Charleston, 
214 ;  rival  conventions  meet  at  Balti- 
more, 215,  217 ;  ex-Democrats  in 
Lincoln's  cabinet,  230 ;  Democrats 
unite  with  Republicans  in  defense  of 
the  government,  233;  war  Democrats 
unite  with  Republicans  in  Union 
party,  268 ;  peace  Democrats  nomi- 
nate McClellan,  269. 

District  of  Columbia,  slavery  in,  153, 
160. 

Dix,  John  A.,  in  Congress,  151;  his  fa- 
mous dispatch,  222. 

Dorsey,  Azel,  schoolmaster,  62. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  birth  and  educa- 
tion, 116;  arrival  in  Illinois,  117; 
chosen  circuit  attorney,  117;  elected 
to  Congress,  147 ;  in  the  Senate,  151 ; 
on  compromise  of  1850,  161 ;  intro- 
duces Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  164; 
defends  his  course,  168;  fallacies  of 
his  doctrine,  176,  184,  199;  loses 
presidential  nomination,  182;  his 
rupture  with  the  President,  185,  187, 
192;  debates  public  questions  with 
Lincoln,  195-199 ;  his  opinion  of  John 
Brown's  raid.  204;  nominated  for  the 
presidency,  215,  217  ;  at  Lincoln's  in- 


Index 


285 


auguration,  22S ;    opposes  secession, 
229,236;  death,  236. 
Dred  Scott  case,  183,  199. 

Elkin,  David,  preacher,  35,  50,  52. 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  254,  257. 
England's  sympathy  with  the  South,  248. 
Everett,  Edward,  263,  265. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  162. 

Florida,  secession  of,  216,  220. 

Fortress  Monroe,  245. 

Fort  Sumter,  commanded  by  Major 
Anderson,  94,  231 ;  surrendered,  232, 
237 ;  retaken,  272. 

Fox  Indians,  89. 

Free-soil  party,  organized,  155;  oppose 
extension  of  slavery,  163 ;  unite  with 
Whigs  to  form  Republican  party,  172  ; 
reenforced  by  former  sympathizers 
with  the  South,  179. 

Fremont,  John  C,  Republican  candidate 
for  President,  181;  in  command  of 
Union  forces  in  Missouri,  239;  his 
indiscretion,  246;  nomination  by  dis- 
satisfied Republicans,  268. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  embodied  in  Com- 
promise Act  of  1850,  160;  obnoxious 
to  the  North,  162;  leads  to  riot  in 
Boston,  178. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  141. 

Gentry,  Mr.,  of  Gentryville,  40,  73,  76. 

Georgia,  slavery  in,  136;  secession  of, 
216,  220. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  261 ;  Lincoln's 
address  at,  263,  272. 

Graham,  Menton,  schoolmaster,  104. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  his  victory  at  Vicks- 
burg,  260;  mentioned  for  the  presi- 
dency, 268 ;  his  Virginia  campaign, 
272;  enters  Petersburg,  276;  receives 
surrender  of  Lee,  279;  his  eulogium 
of  Lincoln,  281. 

Greeley,  Horace,  favors  compromise  with 
the  South,  221 ;  Lincoln's  letter  to  on 
emancipation,  252;  finds  tauli  with 
Lincoln's  management,  267. 

Hale,  John  P.,  152;  Free-soil  nominee 
for  the  presidency,  163. 


Half-faced  camp,  a  winter  in  a,  41,  106. 

Hanks,  Dennis,  46,  52,  54,  56,  79,  81. 

Hanks,  John,  78,  80,  84,  209. 

Hanks,  Nancy,  mother  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, 22,  28.     See  Lincoln,  Nancy. 

Harpers  Ferry,  201. 

Harrison,  General  W.  H.,  at  Tippecanoe, 
37;  Whig  nominee  for  the  presi- 
dency, 131;  election  and  death,  133. 

Hazel,  Caleb,  schoolmaster,  34. 

Henry,  Patrick,  in  favor  of  freedom,  137. 

Herndon,  William  H.,  129  vote. 

Hood,  General,  defeated,  272. 

Houston,  Sam,  145. 

Illinois,  78,  80,  181,  192,  197,  208,  212. 

Inaugural  address,  225,  273. 

Indiana,  38,  76. 

Indiana  Territory,  19,  38,  40. 

Indians,  in  Kentucky,  14,  16,  24,  30; 
the  Black  Hawk  War,  89-94;  great 
reservation  proposed,  164,  167. 

Iowa,  164,  173,  233, 

Jackson,  Andrew,  108,  112,  118,  219; 
at  New  Orleans,  36,  37;  his  inter- 
view with  Black  Hawk,  94;  Presi- 
dent, 108 ;  great  favorite  in  the  West, 
112;  opposes  nullification,  no,  219; 
expiration  of  his  term,  118;  quoted 
by  President  Buchanan,  185. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  20;  founder  of 
Democratic  party,  107;  sees  evils 
of  slavery,  137 ;  first  expounder  of 
doctrine  of  States'  Rights,  188. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  151,  268. 

Johnston,  Sarah,  58. 

Kansas,  165,  201 ;  war  in,  172,  185,  187. 

Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  164,  166,  172,  173, 
177,  179 ;  its  true  object  from  a  South- 
ern standpoint,  190. 

Kentucky,  12,  58,  68,  210,246. 

Lawrence,  Kansas,  174,  175. 

Lecoinpton  Constitution,  186,  192. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  would  save  the  Union, 
191  ;  at  Harpers  Ferry,  201 ;  his  char- 
acter, 235  ;  takes  command  of  Virgin- 
ian army,  236;  at  Antietam,  256;  at 
Gettysburg,  261 ;  at  Richmond,  272, 
276;  his  surrender,  279. 


286 


hidex 


Liberty  party,  134,  142. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  his  ancestry,  14, 
21;  birth,  25;  dress  and  appear- 
ance, 24,  47,  69,  82,  86,  96,  115,  120, 
158,  271 ;  mother's  influence,  29,  54; 
homes,  26,  31,  41,  80,  125,  143,  157 ; 
first  grief,  32;  schools,  33,  34,  61,  63, 
67;  books  and  reading,  35,  43,  55, 
64,  70,  88,  106,  158,  254;  rehgious 
convictions,  35,  50,  244,  275 ;  ora- 
tory, 36,  67,  96,  197,  206,  225,  263, 
273 ;  respect  for  soldiers,  36,  242 ; 
he  goes  to  Indiana,  41 ;  learns  to 
write,  44;  death  of  mother,  49;  a 
letter  writer,  51;  his  resolutions,  54, 
69,  77;  conversation,  55,  105;  step- 
mother, 57;  aspires  to  be  a  lawyer, 
64,  69,  98,  103;  his  compositions,  63, 
70;  he  learns  surveying,  67,  103;  is 
a  boatman,  69,  71,  73,  83;  earns 
his  first  money,  72;  goes  to  New 
Orleans,  73 ;  becomes  of  age,  77 ; 
goes  to  Illinois,  79;  splits  rails,  81, 
209;  makes  second  trip  to  New  Or- 
leans, 83;  his  first  view  of  slavery, 
84;  is  salesman  in  store  at  New 
Salem,  85,  104;  called  "Honest 
Abe,"  86 ;  studies  grammar,  SS ; 
serves  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  89; 
is  chosen  captain,  91 ;  is  candidate 
for  the  legislature,  95 ;  delivers  his 
first  speech,  96;  fails  as  storekeeper, 
97;  studies  law,  98,  125,  158 ;  is 
postmaster,  100;  surveyor,  103;  his 
character,  86,  105,  158 ;  he  enters 
politics  in  earnest,  106;  is  elected 
to  the  legislature,  114,  122,  128; 
declares  his  principles,  118,  123;  re- 
moves to  Springfield,  125;  becomes 
an  attorney,  127 ;  rides  the  circuit, 
128;  his  partners,  loZnofe;  his  kind 
heart,  130,  243  ;  first  utterance  on 
slavery,  142  ;  marriage,  143  ;  is 
chosen  presidential  elector,  146,  163; 
elected  to  Congress,  150;  active  in 
campaign  of  1848,  155;  returns  to 
private  life,  156 ;  debates  with  Doug- 
las on  the  slavery  question,  168, 
192,  193,  195-200;  is  nominated  for 
the   Senate,    170;   leader   of  Repub- 


lican party  in  Illinois,  181 ;  is  de- 
feated, 109;  speaks  at  Coopei  Union, 
205 ;  is  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency, 210;  is  elected,  218;  he  pre- 
pares his  inaugural  address,  223 ; 
is  inaugurated,  225 ;  calls  for  vol- 
unteers, 233,  238,  249 ;  is  never  too 
busy  to  help  others,  240 ;  is  perplexed 
and  opposed,  250;  his  attitude 
toward  slavery,  252,  253 ;  his  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation,  254,  257;  his 
Gettysburg  address,  263 ;  he  is  re- 
nominated, 266;  his  attitude  toward 
the  South,  266;  he  is  reelected,  270; 
his  second  inaugural  address,  273; 
he  visits  Richmond,  276;  is  assassi- 
nated, 280;  his  funeral,  281 ;  tributes 
to  his  memory,  281. 

Lincoln,  Mary  Todd,  wife  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  143,  157,  271,  280. 

Lincoln,  Nancy,  mother  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  21,  26,  48,  53. 

Lincoln,  Sarah,  sister  of  Abraham  Lin 
coin,  26,  31,  34,  50,  51,  79. 

Lincoln,  Sarah  Bush,  58,  79. 

Lincoln,  the  Pioneer,  14. 

Lincoln,  Thomas,  16,  19,  21,  25,  30,  38, 
44.  49.  55.  78.  84,  209. 

Logan,  Stephen  T.,  128  note. 

Log-cabin  campaign,  132. 

Louisiana  Purchase,  20. 

Louisiana,  state,  216,  220. 

Louisville  yournal,  107,  112. 

Louisville,  Kentucky,  14,  15. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  203. 

McClellan,  General  George  B.,  238,  269, 
272. 

McDowell,  General,  at  Bull  Run,  239. 

Madison,  James,  24,  137. 

Maryland,  210. 

Mason,  John  Y.,  178,  202,  247. 

Meade,  General,  at  Gettysburg,  261,  262. 

Mexican  War,  147,  149,  159. 

Mississippi  River,  our  western  boundary, 
10;  becomes  all  our  own,  20;  great 
highway  of  trade,  21, 74,  76 ;  Lincoln's 
second  voyage  down,  83;  danger  of 
invasion  of  the  North  by  way  of,  239; 
in  possession  of  Union,  260. 


Index 


287 


Mississippi,  state,  216,  220. 

Missouri  Compromise,  139,  140;  its  bear- 
ing on  territory  acquired  from  Mexico, 
159;  repeal,  165,  168,  173,  190. 

Missouri,  state,  139,  164,  173,  174,  aio. 

Missouri  territory,  164. 

National  Republicans,  108,  113. 

Nebraska,  165,  173. 

New  Orleans,  21,  37,  70,  74,  76,  83, 
222. 

New  Salem,  85,  95,  97,  99,  102. 

New  York,  74. 

New  York  City,  Lincoln  in,  205;  seces- 
sion of,  proposed,  221. 

Nullification  Ordinance,  109. 

Offut,  Denton,  83,  85,  89. 
Ohio  Region,  the,  10,  19,  137. 
Ohio  River,  39,  40,  51,  70,  137 ;    line  be- 
tween freedom  and  slavery,  138. 
Ohio,  state,  19,  211,  212. 
"  Old  Hickory,"  112. 
Oregon,  156. 

"  Pacificator,  The  Great,"  iii. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  148. 

Petersburg,  Virginia,  272,  276. 

Philadelphia,  74,  221. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  antislavery  leader, 
141;  his  words  on  John  Brown,  203; 
sneers  at  Abraham  Lincoln,  223;  his 
opinion  of  secession,  228;  opposes 
reelection  of  Lincoln,  268. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  elected  President,  163; 
tries  to  settle  Kansas  dispute,  176 ; 
utterance  regarding  war,  221. 

Pisjeon  Creek,  40,  54,  71,  77,  146. 

Pioneer  homes  and  manner  of  living,  27, 
44,  56,  58,  60,  81,  126. 

Polk,  James  K.,  nominated  lor  the  presi- 
dency, 146;  elected,  147;  forces  the 
war  with  Mexico,  148,  154. 

Popular  sovereignty,  168,  176,  184,  187, 
198. 

Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  239. 

Presidential  elections,  (1788)  20,  (1796) 
20,  (1800)  £o,  (1808)  24,  (1828)  108, 
(1832)  112,  (1836)  122,  (1840)  131, 
(1844)   146,   (1848)    154,   (1852)    163, 


(1856)    181,   (i860)    218,    (1864)   268, 
272. 
Pugh,  Senator,  of  Ohio,  215. 

"  Rag  Barons  and  Sons  of  Toil,"  119. 

Rail  candidate,  Lincoln  the,  209,  228. 

Railroads,  21,  73,  123. 

Republican  party,  organization  of,  176, 
177,  181 ;  first  presidential  candidate, 
181;  not  for  abolishing  slavery,  197; 
convention  at  Decatur,  Illinois,  208; 
nominates  Lincoln  for  the  presidency, 
210;  triumphs  in  1860,218;  divided 
in  sentiment,  259 ;  temporarily  merged 
into  Union  party,  268 ;  radicals  form 
new  party,  268  ;  renomination  of  Lin- 
coln, 268. 

Richmond,  Virginia,  272,  276. 

Riney,  Zachariah,  schoolmaster,  33. 

Ripon,  Wisconsin,  "birthplace  of  Re- 
publican party,"  176. 

Scott,  Dred,  183.     See  Dred  Scott  case. 

Scott,  General  Winfield,  hero  of  Mexi- 
can War,  154;  Whig  nominee  for 
presidency,  163 ;  at  inauguration  of 
Lincoln,  225  ;  utterance  regarding 
preservation  of  the  Union,  234. 

Secession,  threats  of  by  South  Carolina, 
109;  in  New  England,  140;  in  the 
South,  160;  South  Carolina  secedes, 
219 ;  other  states  follow,  220,  234. 

Sectionalism,  188,  igi. 

Seward,  William  H.,  Republican  leader, 
204,  211,  212  ;  his  utterance  regarding 
secession,  228 ;  in  Lincoln's  cabinet, 
229,  230,  248,  256;  his  opinion  of  the 
Gettysburg  address,  265. 

Slavery,  I^incoln's  first  view  of,  84;  ques- 
tion shunned  by  both  political  par- 
ties, 133;  beginnings  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States,  135 ;  favored  by  Great 
Britain,  136;  forbidden  in  Northwest, 
137;  dividing  line,  138  ;  African  slave 
trade  forbidden,  139;  Missouri  Com- 
promise, 140;  antislavery  society, 
141 ;  slavery  in  Texas,  145  ;  in  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  149,  159;  in 
Washington,  153;  new  phases  of,  ques- 
tion,  159;    Fugitive  Slave  Law,  160, 


2.<?8 


i 


hidex 


162,  17S ;  rights  in  the  ferrilories,  165, 
167,  176, 177,  184,  185,  190,  207  ;  Dred 
Scott  case,  183 ;  jealousies  caused  by 
slavery,  189  ;  Lincoln's  o[)iiiion  of, 
198,  274;  John  Brown's  attempt,  200; 
Northern  Democrats  repudiate  slav- 
ery, 215;  slaves  "contraband  of  war," 
245  ;  Northern  advocates  of  slavery, 
251 ;  movements  toward  abolition, 
249,  250;  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion, 254,  257;  end  of  slavery,  260. 

Soul6,  Pierre,  178. 

South  Carolina,  109,  179,  214,  216,  218. 

Sparrow,  Betty  and  Thomas,  46,  48. 

Speed,  Joshua,  125. 

Springfield,  Illinois,  85,  99,  102,  125,  157, 
159,  193,  224,  236,  281,  282. 

Spy  Battalion,  Independent,  93. 

Star  of  the  West,  steamer,  222. 

States'  Rights,  doctrine  of,  112,  188,  219. 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  in  Congress, 
151 ;  member  of  club  to  support 
candidacy  of  General  Taylor,  155 ; 
utterance  at  Charleston,  216;  utter- 
ance on  secession,  217 ;  chosen  Vice 
President  of  the  Confederacy,  221. 

Stuart,  John  T.,  99,  127. 

Sumner,  Charles,  leader  in  Free-soil 
party,  155 ;  speech  in  Senate,  179 ; 
beaten  by  Preston  S.  Brooks,  180. 

Sumter.     See  Fort  Sumter. 

Taney,  Chief  Justice  Roger  B.,  183,  184, 
228. 

Tariff  question,  108. 

Taylor,  Colonel  Dick,  120. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  93 ;  commands  army  in 
Texas,  148 ;  Whig  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  154;  his  death,  162. 

Tennessee,  138,  272. 

Texas,  144-147. 

Thanksgiving  Day,  established,  262. 

Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  37. 

Trent  affair,  the,  247. 

Tyler,  John,  candidate  for  vice  presi- 
dency, 133 ;  becomes  President,  133 
note;  signs  resolution  for  anne.xation 


of  Texas,  147;   utterance  after  John 
Brown's  attempt,  204. 

Union  party  of  i860,  217. 
Union  parly  of  1864,  268,  269. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  Democratic  candi- 
date for  presidency,  122,  131 ;  op- 
poses annexation  of  Texas,  145; 
Free-soil   candidate    for    presidency, 

155- 
Vandalia,  capital  of  Illinois,  115,  118. 
Vicksburg,  capture  of,  260. 
Vincennes,  40. 
Virginia,  135,  200,  204,  210,  235,  236,  272. 

War  of  1812,  37. 

Washington,  D.C.,  153,  201,  219,  220, 
223,  225,  234,  239. 

Washington,  George,  20;  Lincoln's  ideal, 
66,67;  opinion  of  slavery,  137. 

Webster,  Daniel,  leader  of  National  Re- 
publican party,  108 ;  and  of  Whig 
party,  113;  in  the  Senate,  151;  he 
supports  the  compromise  of  1850, 160, 
161 ;  his  death,  162. 

Weems's  "  Life  of  Washington,"  65. 

Weitzel,  General,  277,  279. 

Welles,  Gideon,  in  Lincoln's  cabinet,  23a 

Whig  party,  organization  of,  107,  112; 
slow  to  approve  of  convention  sys- 
tem, 114;  aim  of  in  1840,  131;  shuns 
slavery  question,  133,  140,  155,  163; 
opposes  annexation  of  Texas,  144, 
148 ;  nominates  General  Taylor  for 
presidency,  154;  its  successes,  162; 
merged  into  Republican  party,  176, 
177;  remnants  in  Union  party,  217; 
Whigs  in  Lincoln's  cabinet,  230. 

Whitman,  Walt,  quoted,  270,  281. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  141 ;  quoted,  174. 

Wilkes,  Captain,  247. 

Winter  of  the  deep  snow,  81. 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  150. 

Wise,  Governor,  of  Virginia,  203. 

Yancey,  Senator,  of  Alabama,  215. 


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